WAS  PREPARED 


FAIRBANK 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

CERF  LIBRARY 

PRESENTED  BY 

REBECCA  CERF  '02 

IN  THE  NAMES  OF 

CHARLOTTE  CERF  '95 

MARCEL  E.  CERF  '97 

BARRY  CERF  '(32 


REV,  CALVIN  FAIRBANK 


DURING  SLAVERY  TIMES. 


How  HE  "FOUGHT  THE  GOOD  FIGHT"  TO  PREPARE 
"THE  WAY." 


EDITED  FROM  HIS  MANUSCRIPT. 


CHICAGO: 

R.    R.    McCABE    &    CO.,    PUBLISHEKS. 

1890. 


COPTEIGHT,    1890,    BY    R.    It.    MoCABE. 


press  of 
•K.  1R.  flftcCabe  Si  Co.,  Chicago. 


DEDICATED 

TO    THE 

<3uarfct   anfc  tbetr  Successors, 

WHO    EECOGNIZE 

"THE  FATHERHOOD  OF  GOD,  AND  BEOTHEEHOOD 
or  MAN." 

THE  AUTHOR. 


M554.85G 


PEEFACE. 


^N  presenting  to  the  public  so  small  a  volume  as  a 
I  representation  of  so  large  and  extraordinary  an  ex 
perience,  I  feel  bound  by  sentiments  of  propriety  to  answer 
beforehand  the  query  of  every  one,  perhaps,  who  has  for 
several  years  looked  for  its  publication  in  a  more  extensive 
edition,  and  at  an  earlier  day. 

Upon  my  liberation  in  April,  1864,  my  health  did  not 
allow  me  to  write.  Very  soon  thereafter  the  country  was 
flooded  with  books  on  the  war.  Neither  then,  nor  since 
then  have  I  been  able  myself  to  defray  the  expense  of  its 
publication.  I  had  written  twelve  hundred  pages,  sufficient 
to  make  five  hundred  pages  of  readable  matter;  but  every 
one  considered  it  too  long.  I  had  since  that  time  prepared 
what  I  thought  could  be  safely  published  and  put  in  market. 
But  men  of '  experience,  in  order  to  avoid  the  risk  of  finan 
cial  failure,  advised  condensation  in  this  edition  and  wait 
results. 

Please  accept  this  as  my  apology,  and  believe  me 

Yours  in  faith, 

CALVIN  FAIRBANK. 

ANGELICA,  NEW  YORK. 
August,  1890. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

CHAPTER   I. 
Parentage — Birth — Education 1-7 

CHAPTER   II. 
Slavery  Unconstitutional , 8-11 

CHAPTER   III. 

Aiding  the  Fugitives — Escape  of  Sam  Johnson — Rescue  of  a 
Family  of  Seven — Meeting  in  Detroit,  Mich.,  Twelve  Years 
Later — Helen  Payne — Cross  the  River  with  Fourteen  Fugi 
tives  in  a  Scow — A  Man,  his  Wife  and  Three  Children  in 
Peril  — Cross  the  Dividing  Waters  on  a  Raft— "Get  up 
Quick!  do,  Mr.  Fairbank!"— Taken  to  a  Place  of  Safety. .  12-17 

CHAPTER   IV. 

In  the  Fifth  Generation— A  Slave  Girl  of  Fifteen— Three 
Daughters  Rescued — The  Mother  Would  Not  Leave  Her 
Mother — Shotgun  versus  a  Colt's  Revolver 18-19 

CHAPTER   V 

Emily  Ward — "  I  Come  to  Release  You  " — Cross  the  River  on 
a  Pine  Log — The  "  Apostle  of  Freedom  " — "  Aunt  Katie  " 
— S.  P.  Chase— Gamaliel  Bailey— Samuel  Lewis  — "The 
Hunters  are  Looking  for  Emily!"  —  "There  is  my  old 
Master!"— "Oh!  I  Beg  your  Pardon,  Lady!  "—The  British 
Lion  —  John  Hamilton  —  The  Stanton  Family  —  "Come 
Over  to  Kentucky,  and  Help  Us ! " 20-25 


Vlll.  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   VI.  PAGE. 

Eliza  —  Nicholas  Longworth  —  The  Wealth  and  Culture  of 
Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Cincinnati, 
Washington,  New  Orleans,  Louisville,  Frankfort,  and 
Lexington  —  Hon.  Robert  Wickliffe  —  A  "Black-eyed 
Frenchman" — "Eliza  Upon  the  Block" — "Embodiment 
of  Diabolus  " — The  Auctioneer  Directs  Attention  to  "This 
Valuable  Piece  of  Property  " — "  Two  Hundred  and  Fifty 
Dollars" — "How  High  are  You  Going  to  Bid?" — "Four 
teen  Hundred  and  Fifty!" — "Who  is  Going  to  Lose  Such 
a  Chance  as  This!"  —  "Horrible!"  —  "Smote  Her. White 
Flesh" — "Boston  and  New  Orleans  Wept  Side  by  Side  " — 
"Fourteen  Hundred  and  Eighty-Five!" — The  Hammer 
Fell — Eliza  Was  Mine! — William  Minnis — Left  Free  by 
His  Master — Sold  by  His  Master's  Son — A  Plan  Laid  for 
His  Rescue — I  am  Selected  for  the  Hazardous  Undertak 
ing — Go  to  Arkansas  —  Minnis  Discovered  after  Four 
Weeks'  Investigation  —  Disguised  —  Take  the  Boat  for 
Cincinnati — Minnis  Meets  His  Young  Master — The  Crisis 
Safely  Passed — Pullum,  the  Slave  Trader,  Appears — Does 
not  Recognize  Minnis — Reach  Cincinnati  in  Safety — On 
to  Canada — "  Shouldered  Arms  for  the  Union  " 26-44 

CHAPTER   VII. 

My  First  Imprisonment — The  Case  of  Gilson  Berry — Miss 
Delia  Webster — Lewis  Hayden — "Because  I'm  a  Man!''- 
Pete  Driscoll— "An  Abolition  Hole"  —  Eli  C.  Collins — 
Levi  Collins — Dr.  Rankiii — Rescue  of  the  Hayden  Family 
—Three  Indictments  Found— Leslie  Coombs  —  In  Stiff 
Irons— Two  Prisoners  Escape — "I'll  Fix  You  for  Slow 
Traveling" — Petition  for  Miss  Webster's  Release — Plea 
to  the  Jury — "There  is  Not  a  Slave  Legally  Held  in  the 
United  States  of  America!"— Conviction — Fifteen  Years 
at  Hard  Labor — Dressed  in  Stripes  and  Put  to  Sawing 
Stone 45-53 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

My  Incarceration  —  Captain  Newton  Craig  —  Supplied  with 
Money — Benjamin  Howard — Francis  Jackson — Ellis  Gray 


CONTENTS.  IX. 

PAGE. 

Luring  —  My  Father's  Arrival  in  Kentucky  —  Promise  of 
Pardon — Governor  Crittenden  —  Cholera  was  Raging- 
Death  of  My  Father — Buried  among  Strangers 54-56 

CHAPTER   IX. 

Pardoned  by  Governor  Crittenden — A  Lively  Interest  in 
Religion — Isaac  Wade  — Rev.  William  Buck — Governor 
Ouseley — A  Boy  Pardoned  —  William  Driver  Gains  His 
Freedom 57-59 

CHAPTER   X. 

Among  Old  Friends — The  "  Old  Guard  " — Escape  of  Two  Little 
Girls— "Where  Do  All  the  Niggers  Go  To? "— S.  P.  Chase 
Elected  United  States  Senator— The  Free  Soil  Party— 
A  Revival  in  Progress — Visit  Cleveland  and  Detroit — 
Meet  Coleman  and  His  Family — Sandusky — Invited  to 
Speak  at  Chicago — Six  Fugitives  Hotly  Pursued — They 
Escape  to  Canada — The  Hunters  Too  Late — "Seen  Any 
Niggers  About  Here?  "—"If  You  Can  Run  on  the  Water!" 
— At  Buffalo— Abner  H.  Francis — James  G.  Birney — Two 
Anti-Slavery  Parties — Garrison — Phillips — Smith — Pills- 
bury — Abby  Kelly  Foster — Samuel  Ward — Fred  Douglass 
— The  Fugitive  Slave  Law— Henry  Clay— Daniel  Webster 
— "When  the  Iron  Pierces  Your  Heart  " — The  Legislature 
of  Massachusetts — Mr.  Webster  Censured — Henry  Wilson 
— "  Doughfaces  with  Their  Ears  and  Eyes  Filled  with 
Cotton!" — John  G.  Whittier — "Conscience  and  Constitu 
tion  "  —  "  You  Must  Conquer  Your  Prejudices  "  — -  "  We 
Must  Fight!  " 60-76 

CHAPTER   XI. 

The  Fugitive  Slave  Law  Passed — James  M.  Ashley  of  Ohio 
Secures  its  Repeal — Marriage  of  William  and  Ellen  Craft 
—Theodore  Parker — "Take  This  and  Defend  Your  Wife!" 
—  Fillmore  and  His  Cabinet  —  "A  Den  of  Thieves"  — 
"Liberty  Party"  Convention  at  Buffalo — Gerrit  Smith 
for  President;  Charles  Durkee  of  Iowa  for  Vice-President 
— Sojourner  Truth 77-84 


X.  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XII.  PAGE. 

Second  Imprisonment — Rescue  of  Tamar,  a  Young  Mulatto 
Woman— Cross  the  Ohio  at  Night— Return  to  Jefferson- 
ville,  Indiana  —  Kidnaped  —  Inmates  of  the  Prison  — 
"Axes  to  Grind"  —  Colonel  Buckner — "Hallelujah,  I'm 
Victorious!" — Hon.  James  Speed — The  Higher  Law 85-92 

CHAPTER   XIII. 
Laura  S,  Haviland — "Bail  or  Break  Jail" — Marshall  Plays  the 

Knave — Lovell  H.  Rousseau — I  Was  Slaughtered 93-96 

CHAPTER   XIV. 

Trial  and  Conviction— The  Testimony — "What  is  Linsey?" — 
Leave  the  Jail  in  Irons — Judge  Buckner — Judge  Bullock — 
Fifteen  Years  at  Hard  Labor — Five  Thousand  Dollars 
Bail 97-103 

CHAPTER   XV. 

My  Reception — Craig's  Reign — Prison  Government  and  Pri 
son  Life—"  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta  " 104-108 

CHAPTER   XVI. 

My  Own  Experience — Craig's  Conduct  —  The  First  Ten  Cuts 
from  a  Rawhide  —  Shot  in  the  Back  —  The  School  of 
Scandal  —  Punishment  Escaped  —  Zebulon  Ward —  "  If  I 
Kill  You  All " 109-117 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

The  Prisoners  Overworked  —  The  Smack  of  the  Strap  — 
"Hardy's  Best"— Sixty-five  Lashes— One  More  Scene  of 
Barbarity— Playing  Marbles 118-128 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 

A  Speech  Before  the  People  of  Kentucky — -"The  War  is 
Inevitable" — Governor  Morehead— "  The  Yankees  won't 
Fight  "—Senator  K—  — .  —Senator  John  M.  Prall 129-132 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

The  War — "Come  on,  Boys!  Come  on!  " — A  Prophecy  Fulfilled 
— Thirty-five  Thousand  One  Hundred  and  Five  Stripes  in 
Eight  Years 133-138 


CONTENTS.  XI. 

CHAPTER   XX.  PAGE. 

Harry  I.  Todd's  Reign— "  That's  My  Daylight!  "—"What  You 
Doin'  Here?"  —  Skull  Fractured — In  the  Hands  of  the 
Government — Richard  T.  Jacob — General  James  Harlan 
— "  Suddenly  and  Mysteriously  Went  Down  " — President 
Lincoln  Sends  General  Fry  to  Kentucky — A  Bomb-Shell 
—Thomas  E.  Bramlette— "Come  Before  Me  Forthwith"— 
Jacob  Was  Governor — "Fairbank,  You  are  Going  Out!".  139-146 

CHAPTER   XXI. 

Pardon — Reception  in  the  North — "Now,  Ben,  I'd  Give  it  Up!" 
— Reception  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio — "Sing,  Chillen,  Sing!" 
—"After  Years  of  Faithful  Waiting "— " Barbarism  of 
Slavery "  — " The  Horrible  Whippings" —"The  Staff  of 
Life  to  Him  " — Reception  at  Detroit,  Michigan — Welcome 
at  Oberlin 147-166 

CHAPTER   XXII. 

Election — Vote  at  Oberlin — At  Toronto,  Canada— Field  Day 

— Sir  Charles  Napier — "  I  am  a  Gentleman!  " 167-172 

CHAPTER   XXIII. 

At  Baltimore — Washington — Norfolk,  Va. — John  M.  Brown — 
President  Lincoln's  Inauguration — The  Levee — Sojourner 
Truth — ';I  am  a  Rebel,  Sir!" — Fall  of  Richmond — Assas 
sination  of  the  President  —  "  How  are  the  Mighty 
Fallen  " 173-181 

APPENDIX. 

The  Elevation  of  the  Colored  Race — The  Moore  Street  Indus 
trial  Society  of  Richmond,  Va. — "The  Romantic  History" 
— "Pharaoh  Outdone" — Death  of  Mrs.  Fairbank — The 
Soldier's  Award — A  Much  Whipped  Clergyman — Marriage 
of  Calvin  C.  Fairbank— Statement  of  Laura  S.  Haviland .  183-208 


REV.  CALVIN  FAIRBANK  DURING 
SLAVERY  TIMES. 


How  HE  "FOUGHT  THE  GOOD  FIGHT"  TO  PREPARE 
"THE  WAY." 


EDITED    FROM    HIS    MANUSCRIPT. 


M 


CHAPTEE    I. 
Parentage —  Birth — Education, 

Y  parents  were  of  English  extraction.  My  father's 
grandfather  came  to  New  England  about  1730, 
and  settled  in  Massachusetts,  near  what  is  now  known 
as  Fall  River,  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state.  My 
father  was  born  at  Swansea,  Massachusetts,  in  1788, 
during  that  terrible  war  maintained  by  King  Philip 
against  the  white  settlements  in  that  vicinity.  He  re 
moved  to  Windsor  county,  Vermont,  while  quite  young. 

My  mother,  Betsey  Abbott,  was  the  daughter  of 
Jacob  Abbott,  a  name  now  famous  in  the  history  of 
church  and  state  in  this  country,  whose  father  settled 


&  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

on  Martha's  Vineyard  in  the  year  1750,  where  Jacob 
was  born.  His  father,  with  others  of  the  family, 
desiring  more  room,  removed  to  Massachusetts;  and 
thus  the  family  was  scattered  throughout  New  England. 
When  my  grandmother  was  only  twelve  years  of 
age,  being  left  alone  one  day,  she  was  captured  by  the 
Indians,  and  taken  across  the  Connecticut  river  in  a 
canoe,  then  put  on  horseback,  and  carried  twenty  miles 
into  the  forest  to  their  settlement.  She  was  kindly 
treated,  though  carefully  guarded;  but  she  won  the 
confidence  of  the  guard,  who,  after  partaking — with  her, 
as  he  thought — too  freely  of  "fire  water,"  fell  asleep. 
It  was  her  chance,  and  while  all  were  locked  in  pro 
found  slumber,  she  slipped  her  saddle  from  under  the 
head  of  the  chief,  hastily  saddled  and  mounted  the  old 
white  horse,  who  knew  his  young  mistress,  and  was 
soon  beyond  the  reach  of  her  enemies,  Avhom  she  heard 
toward  day-break,  whooping  on  her  trail.  "Whitey" 
knew  his  way  home,  and  reaching  the  Connecticut 
plunged  fearlessly  in,  and  swimming  with  vigor,  soon 
reached  the  opposite  bank,  leaving  between  him  and 
his  savage,  disappointed  pursuers  the  broad  swift  cur 
rent  of  the  stream.  He  bore  his  precious  burden 
safely  up  the  bank,  and  as  she  appeared  through  the 
brush,  a  shout  of  joy  rang  out  on  the  morning  air, 
from  anxious  parents,  and  friends,  who  had  spent  the 


PARENTAGE— BIRTH— EDUCATION.  3 

long  night  in  searching,  and  watching,  and  praying  for 
her. 

My  mother  was  born  at  Stafford,  Tolland  county, 
Connecticut,  February  13th,  1787,  but  soon  after  re 
moved  to  Windsor  county,  Vermont,  where  she  grew  to 
womanhood,  surrounded,  as  was  also  my  father,  by 
circumstances  favorable  to  the  cultivation  of  sanctified 
pluck.  On  the  first  of  January,  1810,  at  Judge  Key's 
residence,  Stockbridge,  Windsor  county,  Yermont,  my 
father  and  mother  were  married,  and  ever  after  in  the 
most  holy  manner,  kept  their  plighted  faith. 

Upon  the  outbreak  of  the  war  in  1812,  my  father 
volunteered,  leaving  my  mother,  with  my  oldest  brother 
and  sister,  in  care  of  the  two  families.  He  remained 
in  the  service  until  a  short  time  before  the  close  of  the 
war.  Then,  in  company  with  other  members  of  both 
families,  he  removed  to  a  section  of  country  considered 
almost  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  civilized  world — now 
Pike,  Wyoming  county,  New  York.  There  in  the 
woods,  on  the  third  day  of  November,  1816,  I  first  saw 
the  light  of  day. 

The  ancestry  of  both  father  and  mother,  their  sur 
roundings  in  the  new  world,  their  experiences,  all 
tended  to  the  development  of  energy,  and  courage  both 
moral  and  physical,  and  a  sense  of  justice  without  re 
gard  to  race,  class,  or  sex. 


4  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

My  earliest  recollections  carry  me  back  to  the 
forests  filled  with  wolves  howling  about  our  cabin,  the 
trees  so  near  that,  falling  toward  it,  they  often  crashed 
upon  its  roof.  Of  society,  outside  of  our  own  family,  I 
call  up  Christian  communion  with  the  neighbors.  My 
mother,  being  a  pioneer,  stirred  up  all  susceptible  to 
gospel  truth,  to  purity,  charity,  and  spirituality.  My 
first  impressions  were  from  the  Christian  efforts  from 
house  to  house,  in  the  prayer-meeting,  the  class-meet 
ing,  and  preaching  by  the  circuit  preachers.  These 
men  were  accustomed  to  traveling  over  two  hundred 
miles  in  the  round  of  their  circuits,  preaching  nearly 
every  day,  and  on  Sundays  three  times,  filling  their 
several  appointments  once  in  four  weeks. 

As  the  time  for  the  visitation  of  the  circuit  preachers 
drew  near,  the  people  in  the  neighborhood  began  to  so 
plan  their  business,  that  all  able  to  walk  through  the 
forests — through  mud,  or  snow,  or  both — from  one-half 
to  two  miles,  might  gather  in  the  log  houses — dwelling- 
houses  and  school-houses — to  listen  to  the  preached 
Word,  to  pray  and  sing  praises  to  God,  to  encourage 
one  another,  and  bring  old  and  young  into  the  fold  of 
Christ. 

The  whole  community  then,  so  far  as  I  knew,  and 
for  many  years  after,  were  entirely  devoted  to  the 
work  of  the  Methodist  society  there,  and  the  promotion 


PARENT  A  GE— BIRTH— ED  UCA  TION.  O 

of  Methodism  throughout  that  section  of  country ;  and 
to  this  day  the  Methodist  idea  is  the  prevailing  idea  in 
the  neighborhood,  and  Methodism  holds  the  balance  of 
power  over  an  area  of  a  hundred  miles.  That  was  Old 
Genesee  Conference,  as  it  is  now,  and  will  always  be. 
And  that  wonderful  growth  and  steadfastness  of  Chris 
tianity  was  the  result,  almost  entirely,  of  the  fidelity, 
indomitable  courage  and  executive  ability  of  a  noble 
Christian  woman.  She  was  the  instrument  and  power, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  bringing, 
first,  my  father,  then  many  other  good  men,  with 
their  families,  into  the  fold  of  Christ,  following  her  as 
she  followed  Him.  And  such  a  follower  !  I  never  knew 
that  mother  to  lay  down  the  armor — to  sleep  on  her 
watch — to  fail,  in  all  kindness,  to  exhort,  reprove,  to 
warn,  to  commend  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  to  all — 
up  to  the  day  of  her  death,  December  18th,  1882,  at 
the  age  of  ninety-six.  So  I  inherited  the  will  and  the 
power  to  be  diligent  in  business,  fervent  in  spirit, 
serving  the  Lord.  I  very  early  felt  the  need  of  the 
new  birth  in  Christ,  and  week  after  week,  year  after 
year,  mourned  over  my  alienation  from  God,  and  from 
time  to  time  promised  myself  resignation  to  His  will. 
Often,  when  alone  in  the  forest,  I  imagined  myself 
with  an  audience  before  me,  pointing  them  to  the 
Lamb  of  God. 


6  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

During  an  extensive  revival  in  the  summer  and  fall 
of  1832,  in  which  Eev.  William  Buck,  then  a  young 
minister,  labored  faithfully  and  zealously  as  the  cir 
cuit  preacher,  I  was  brought  to  see  myself  a  sinner,  in 
a  more  distinct  and  convincing  light  than  ever  before; 
and  under  the  preaching  of  Eev.  Josiah  L.  Parrish, 
then  of  Pike  county,  New  York,  now  a  missionary  in 
Oregon,  I  was  enabled  publicly  to  resolve  to  renounce 
the  devil  and  all  his  works,  and  turn  to  God  with  full 
purpose  of  soul,  to  lay  all  on  the  altar  of  consecration. 
I  heeded  the  call,  and  as  soon  as  my  means  would 
allow,  began  preparations  for  my  work.  I  went  to 
Lima,  New  York,  in  1839.  At  that  time  Schuyler 
Seager  was  principal  of  the  seminary,  which  was  one 
of  the  most  efficient  and  popular  institutions  in  the 
country. 

It  was  about  that  time  that  the  attention  of  an 
earnest  class  of  people  was  turned  toward  a  new  and 
growing  radical  institution  at  Oberlin,  Ohio,  founded 
mainly  through  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Shepard.  Rev.  Asa 
Mahan,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  was  called  to  the  presi 
dency;  Charles  G.  Finney  to  the  pastorate  and  the 
professorship  of  the  theological  department.  Professor 
Morgan  and  Professor  Tomes,  formerly  of  Lane  Semi 
nary,  were  also  called  to  professorships.  Professor 
Tomes  was  a  Kentuckian  (from  Augusta,  Kentucky), 


PARENTAGE— BIRTH— EDUCATION.  1 

who,  disgusted  with  slavery,  had  left  his  native  state 
for  one  in  which  no  slavery  could  exist. 

I  took  license  to  preach  in  184:0,  and  in  1842  was 
ordained  an  elder  in.  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  closed  my  course  of  study,  graduating  in  1844. 
One  incident,  more  than  anything  else  outside  of  my 
organization,  controlled  and  intensified  my  sentiments 
on  the  slavery  question.  It  was  this:  I  went  with  my 
father  and  mother  to  Kushford  to  quarterly  meeting 
when  a  boy,  and  we  were  assigned  to  the  good,  clean 
home  of  a  pair  of  escaped  slaves.  One  night  after 
service  I  sat  on  the  hearthstone  before  the  fire,  and 
listened  to  the  woman's  story  of  sorrow.  It  covered 
the  history  of  thirty  yeaTs.  She  had  been  sold  from 
home,  separated  from  her  husband  and  family,  and  all 
ties  of  affection  broken.  My  heart  wept,  my  anger  was 
kindled,  and  antagonism  to  slavery  was  fixed  upon  me. 

"Father,"  I  said,  on  going  to  our  room,  "when  I  get 
bigger  they  shall  not  do  that;"  and  the  resolve  waxed 
stronger  with  my  growth. 


I 


CHAPTER    II. 
Slavery  Unconstitutional. 

GREW  to  manhood  with  a  positive,  innate  sense  of 
impartial  liberty  and  equality,  of  inalienable  right, 
without  regard  to  race,  color,  descent,  sex  or  position. 
I  never  trained  with  the  strong  party  simply  because 
it  was  strong.  From  the  time  I  heard  that  woman's 
story  I  felt  the  most  intense  hatred  and  contempt  for 
slavery,  as  the  vilest  evil  that  ever  existed;  and  yet  I 
supposed  the  institution  provided  for  and  protected  by 
the  United  States  Constitution,  and  legally  established 
by  every  slave  state;  and  when,  previous  to  investiga 
tion,  I  repeatedly  aided  the  slaves  to  escape  in  violation 
of  law,  I  did  it  earnestly,  honestly,  in  all  good  con 
science  toward  God  and  man. 

Coming  within  the  influence  of  active  anti-slavery 
men  at  Oberlin,  Ohio,  I  was  led  to  examine  the  subject 
in  the  light  of  law  and  justice,  and  soon  found  the 
United  States  Constitution  an ti- slavery,  and  the  insti 
tution  existing  in  violation  of  law.  My  conclusion  in 
regard  to  the  anti-slavery  character  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  was  based  on  common  law,  on  its 

8 


SLAVERY   UNCONSTITUTIONAL.  9 

interpretation  by  the  whole  civilized  world,   and  the 
recognition  of  self-evident  truth  as  the  basis  of  that 

interpretation,  viz. : 

/~ 

"Where  rights  are  infringed,  where  fundamental 
principles  are  overthrown,  where  the  general  system  of 
the  law  is  departed  from,  the  legislative  intention  must 
be  expressed  with  irresistible  clearness,  in  order  to 
induce  a  court  of  justice  to  suppose  a  design  to  effect 
such  object." 

This  conclusion  enabled  me  to  act  without  misgiv 
ing,  as  to  my  obligation  to  the  General  Government. 
I  was  no  longer  under  obligation  to  respect  the  evil 
institution  as  protected  by  the  Government,  but  was 
free  to  condemn  slavery  and  the  slave  code, — free  to 
follow  the  promptings  of  duty. 

This  was  afterward  supported  by  an  acknowledg 
ment  in  the  United  States  Senate,  by  Senator  Pratt  of 
Maryland,  in  resistance  to  an  amendment  to  the  pending 
Fugitive  Slave  Law  of  1850,  offered  by  William  H. 
Seward,  Senator  from  New  York:  "That  whenever  any 
person,  in  any  free  state,  shall  be  claimed  as  a  fugitive 
.  from  service,  or  labor,  it  shall  be  obligatory  011  the  part 
of  such  claimant  to  prove  that  slavery  exists  in  such 
state,  by  positive  law." 

Senator  Pratt  said:  "If  the  amendment  offered  by 
the  Senator  from  New  York  shall  prevail,  the  reclama- 


10  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

tion  of  any  slave  from  any  state  will  be  an  impossibility, 
for  not  a  State  in  the  Union  has  slavery  established  by 
positive  law." 

Finding,  then,  the  diabolical  institution  unprovided 
for — finding  it  positively  prohibited — finding  it  to  be  a 
conceded  fact  by  our  best  statesmen,  North  and  South, 
that  not  a  state  in  the  Union  had  slavery  established  by 
law,  I  concluded,  upon  the  highest  authority  in  the 
universe,  that  slavery  was  chronic  rebellion,  and  that  I 
was  not  only  justified,  but  bound  by  the  "higher  law," 
to  oppose  it  in  defense  of  an  oppressed  people.  From 
that  time  I  never  allowed  an  opportunity  to  aid  the 
fugitives  to  pass  unimproved ;  but  when  men  and  women 
came  to  me,  pleading  the  "Fatherhood  of  God,"  and 
the  brotherhood  of  man,  I  did  all  in  my  power  to  set 
them  free,  subjecting  myself  to  imprisonment  and  the 
deepest  suffering.  Forty-seven  slaves  I  guided  toward 
the  North  Star,  in  violation  of  the  state  codes  of  Vir 
ginia  and  Kentucky.  I  piloted  them  through  the 
forests,  mostly  by  night, — girls,  fair  and  Avhite,  dressed 
as  ladies ;  men  and  boys,  as  gentlemen,  or  servants, — 
men  in  women's  clothes,  and  women  in  men's  clothes; 
boys  dressed  as  girls,  and  girls  as  boys;  on  foot  or 
on  horseback,  in  buggies,  carriages,  common  wagons, 
in  and  under  loads  of  hay,  straw,  old  furniture,  boxes, 
and  bags ;  crossed  the  Jordan  of  the  slave,  swimming, 


SLAVERY   UNCONSTITUTIONAL.  11 

or  wading  chin  deep,  or  in  boats,  or  skiffs,  on  rafts, 
and  often  on  a  pine  log.  And  I  never  suffered  one  to 
be  recaptured.  None  of  them,  so  far  as  I  have  learned, 
have  ever  come  to  poverty,  or  to  disgrace.  I  have 
visited  a  score  of  those  families,  finding  them  all  indus 
trious,  frugal,  prosperous,  respectable  citizens. 

For  aiding  those  slaves  to  escape  from  their  bond 
age,  I  was  twice  imprisoned — in  all  seventeen  years 
and  four  months ;  and  received,  during  the  eight  years 
from  March  first,  1854,  to  March  first,  1862,  thirty-five 
thousand,  one  hundred  and  five  stripes  from  a  leather 
strap  fifteen  to  eighteen  inches  long,  one  and  a  half 
inches  wide,  and  from  one-quarter  to  three-eighths  of 
an  inch  thick.  It  was  of  half -tanned  leather,  and  fre 
quently  well  soaked,  so  that  it  might  burn  the  flesh 

more  intenselv.     These  flogging's  were  not  with  a  raw- 

«/ 

hide  or  cowhide,  but  with  a  strap  of  leather  attached  to 
a  handle  of  convenient  size  and  length  to  inflict  as 
much  pain  as  possible,  with  as  little  real  damage  as 
possible  to  the  working  capacity. 


CHAPTER    III. 
Aiding   the   Fugitives. 

THE  first  slave  I  assisted  to  escape  was  Sam  Johnson 
of  West  Yirginia.  It  was  in  April,  1837,  that,  as 
I  was  gliding  down  the  Ohio  on  a  raft  of  lumber  an 
acre  in  extent,  I  saw,  on  the  Virginia  side,  a  large, 
active-looking  black  man  walking,  with  his  axe  on  his 
shoulder.  He  was  singing: 

"  De  col'  frosty  mornin'  make  er  nigger  feel  good; 
Wid  he  axe  on  he  sholer,  he  go  joggin'  to  de  wood." 

I  hailed  him.     He  said  he  had  a  wife  and  two  chil 
dren  thirty  or  forty  miles  away. 
"  Neber  spec  tu  see  'em  agin." 
"Why  don't  you  run  away?  "  I  inquired. 
"  Dunno  whar  tu  go." 
"Get  on  here;  I'll  show  you  where  to  go.'' 
"Ah,  white  man  berry  onsartaiii;  nigger  mo'  so." 

I  argued  the  case.  He  came  on  board.  I  swung 
my  raft  to  the  Ohio  bank,  and,  springing  ashore,  and 
throwing  down  axe  and  hat,  he  shuffled  a  jig  upon  free 
frozen  soil,  with  a  "hoop-pee;"  then  picking  up  hat 

12 


AIDING   THE  FUGITIVES.  13 

and  axe,  and  waving  a  "good-bye,"  he  was  soon  out  of 
sight. 

There  was  a  bend  in  the  river,  and  when  we  had 
rounded  it,  and  came  in  sight  of  Mr.  Schneider's,  where 
Sam  had,  by  my  direction,  taken  refuge,  he  and  all  the 
family  were  on  the  bank  waving  hats  and  handkerchiefs. 
Eight  weeks  after,  I  returned,  and  at  midnight  was 
allowed  to  be  put  ashore  in  a  yawl,  as  was  customary  in 
those  days,  and  learned  that  Sam  had  gone  to  Michigan, 
or  Canada,  with  one  hundred  and  fifteen  dollars,  a  part 
of  which  had  been  contributed.  I  heard  nothing  more 
of  him  for  twelve  years. 

A  few  days  after  I  met  Sam  Johnson,  we  landed  on 
the  Kentucky  side,  opposite  the  Little  Miami  river.  A 
tall,  black  woman  of  about  eighty  years  came  to  the 
raft,  and  among  other  things  said  : 

"Chillun,  yo's  all  frum  free  state,  I  reckon?" 

"Yes,"  I  replied. 

"Now,  I'se  got  seven  chillun,  fo'  boys  an'  three 
gals,  an'  dey's  neber  married,  kase  ef  dey  do,  dar  chil 
lun  will  be  slaves  too." 

"  Well,  auntie,  why  don't  they  go  away?  " 

"Oh,  chile,  ef  dey  had  some  one  tu  he'p  'urn  dey 
could  get  erway.  Now,  ef  yo'  all'd  he'p  urn,  dey  could 
go  all  right." 

Finally  it  was  agreed  that  they  should  come  down 


14  HOW  "THE   WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

after  dark  with  their  clothes  in  bundles,  which  they 
did,  and  in  the  presence  of  their  old  rejoicing  mother, 
stepped  into  boats,  and  were  soon  beyond  Kentucky 
jurisdiction.  Here  we — Almon  Carpenter  and  I — left 
them  in  our  boat  with  directions  to  land,  if  practicable, 
just  above,  and  make  their  way  to  the  house  of  a 
Friend — a  Quaker — near,  and  there  tie  up  the  boat. 
Next  morning,  visiting  the  spot,  looking  for  the  boat, 
we  did  not  find  it;  but  pushing  farther  up  the  river 
we  found  it,  and  learned  from  another  Friend,  of  the 
welfare  of  our  charges.  Of  these  people  I  heard 
nothing  until  after  liberation  from  my  first  imprison 
ment,  September,  or  October,  1849^twelve  years  later. 
I  was  standing  on  the  street  in  Detroit,  Michigan,  one 
day,  when  a  fine  team,  and  wagon  loaded  with  bags  of 
wheat,  attracted  my  attention.  I  thought  I  recognized 
Sam  Johnson  sitting  on  the  loaded  wagon,  cracking 
his  whip  with  an  air  of  importance.  I  hailed  him. 

"Hello,  there!  Whose  team  is  that?  " 

"Mine,  and  debts  paid  too." 

"Lucky  for  me,  isn't  it?" 

"  Don't  know  about  that." 

"You  didn't  know  that  I  was  your  young  master, 
eh?" 

"Don't  know  about  that.     I   had  a  master  once: 
now  it  depends  on  who  is  the  strongest." 


AIDING   THE  FUGITIVES.  15 

Then  looking  at  me  awhile,  he  leaped  from  the 
wagon,  shouting: 

"Dog  my  skin!  ef  you  aint'  the  fella  helped  me  er- 
way  frurn  slavery!"  and  seizing  me  as  I  would  an  eight- 
year  old  boy,  he  danced  about  in  glee.  I  went  home 
with  him  that  night — sixteen  miles  back  into  the 
country,  and  found  him  independently  situated,  with  a 
good  farm  well  improved  and  stocked;  his  wife  and 
children  had  been  recovered  through  his  old  friend 
Schneider,  where  he  found  his  first  free  shelter  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ohio — and  they  were  well  educated  and 
promising.  And  I  also  found  there  the  seven  I  had 
piloted  to  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Miami  a  few  days 
after  Sam's  liberation;  every  one  with  a  farm  of  eighty 
acres;  and  the  men  with  wives,  and  the  women  with 
husbands,  and  all  industrious  and  prosperous. 

But  to  return.  Helen  Payne  was  the  next  slave  I 
helped  to  escape.  I  met  her  between  Washington  and 
Maysville,  Kentucky,  with  carpet-bag  in  hand.  I  put 
her  on  board  a  steamer,  went  with  her  to  Pittsburg, 
where  I  left  her  in  good  hands,  and  returned  to  Cincin 
nati,  Ohio.  She  afterward  went  to  New  York  City. 

Upon  my  return  to  Cincinnati,  finding  some  colored 
people  in  great  peril,  I  crossed  the  river  with  fourteen 
in  a  scow  and  placed  them  beyond  danger.  A  hair 
breadth  escape  occurred  during  this  crisis.  One 


16  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

fearless,  determined  girl,  hearing  her  pursuers  talking, 
and  recognizing  her  master's  voice,  hid  herself  under 
the  body  of  a  large  sycamore  tree  that  lay  on  the  river 
bank,  so  that  her  master,  in  his  eager  pursuit  of  the 
others,  sprang  upon  the  log,  and  jumped  over  her,  as 
she  lay  concealed  under  it.  They  all  made  their 
escape. 

A  short  time  after,  I  learned  that  a  man,  his  wife, 
and  three  children,  were  in  peril.  They  had  traveled 
from  East  Tennessee  and  were  secreted  in  Lexington; 
some  one  must  be  their  Moses.  I  therefore  started  at 
nightfall,  traveling  by  a  compass  and  bull's-eye  lantern 
at  night,  and  lying  in  the  cedars  through  the  day.  We 
were  four  days  and  nights  on  the  road,  raiding  corn 
fields  and  out-door  ovens,  and  milking  the  cows,  for  sub 
sistence.  We  crossed  the  river  at  last  on  a  skipper 
constructed  out  of  slabs  and  a  few  planks,  and  were 
out  of  danger. 

It  was  the  very  next  day  that,  after  resting  until' 
about  sunset,  I  was  awakened  by  the  mistress  of  the- 
house : 

"  Mr.  Fairbank,  there  is  a  boy  hidden  in  the  bushes, 
on  the  Kentucky  side,  and  they  are  hunting  him  with, 
dogs.  Get  up  quick,  do,  Mr.  Fairbank! " 

I  started  up,  and  just  in  time  to  see  the  boy  spring 
from  a  clump  of  bushes  to  a  narrow  cove-like  bayou, 


AIDING   THE  FUGITIVES.  17 

and  plunging  in,  crawl  under  the  bank.  Down  came 
the  human  and  canine  hunters,  leaping  directly  over, 
from  bank  to  bank,  where  the  fugitive  lay  concealed 
with  his  nose  just  out  of  water.  The  dogs  followed 
his  track  to  the  very  edge  of  the  bank,  then  leaping 
over  to  the  other  side,  they  ran  round,  and  round,  with 
noses  to  the  ground,  in  great  bewilderment.  I  watched 
with  intense  anxiety,  expecting  every  moment  to  see 
them  plunge  into  the  water,  and  so  discover  his  retreat; 
but  it  seemed  providential  that  he  should  be  left  un 
harmed  until  darkness  covered  the  world,  when  I  went 
with  a  skiff,  and  took  him  to  a  place  of  safety. 


CHAPTER    IV. 
In  the  Fifth  Generation. 

TN  June,  1842,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains  in  Mont- 
-*•  goineiy  county,  I  think,  I  came  upon  an  old 
plantation,  with  cattle  and  horses  and  slaves.  Many  of 
the  slaves  were  so  nearly  of  white  blood,  that  they 
could  be  distinguished  from  the  privileged  class  only 
by  their  short  checked  dresses,  and  short  hair.  The 
lord  of  the  estate,  an  octogenarian,  made  me  welcome 
to  anything  I  desired. 

I  became  interested  in  a  young  slave  girl  of  fifteen, 
who  was  the  fifth  in  direct  descent  from  her  master, 
being  the  great-great-great-grand-daughter  of  a  slave 
whom  he  took  as  his  mistress  at  the  age  of  fourteen, 
five  being  his  own  daughters,  and  all  by  daughters, 
except  the  first,  and  all  were  his  slaves.  And  now  he 
was  expecting  to  make  this  girl  his  mistress. 

I  remained  there,  a  guest  of  the  family,  two  weeks, 
and  became  quite  well  acquainted  with  their  habits,  and 
felt  sure  I  could  run  the  risk  of  putting  my  hand 
against  the  authority  of  the  state  in  defense  of  as 
lovely  a  young  woman  as  there  was  in  Kentucky.  The 

18 


IN  THE  FIFTH   GENERATION.  19 

fate  in  store  for  her  seemed  too  horrible,  and  when  I 
went  away  I  promised  to  meet  her  and  her  mother  at 
an  appointed  place,  with  preparations  all  made,  to  place 
the  family — the  mother  and  three  daughters,  beyond 
the  power  of  the  slaveholder. 

The  time  came.  I  was  promptly  on  the  spot,  so 
were  they;  but  no  argument  could  prevail  upon  the 
mother  to  take  her  children  and  leave  the  state.  Her 
mother  was  behind,  and  she  wanted  to  provide  some 
way  for  her  escape.  So  taking  leave  of  mother  and 
little  sisters, — how  they  wept  at  parting  from  her! — the 
eldest  girl  took  her  seat  in  the  carriage  and  we  drove 
swiftly  away.  Once,  during  that  long  night-drive,  we 
were  halted  by  a  ruffian  springing  from  the  bush  and 
leveling  a  shotgun  close  to  my  face;  but  I  thrust  it 
aside  in  an  instant,  and  covered  him  with  a  Colt's 
revolver. 

We  arrived  in  Lexington — ninety -five  miles — about 
half -past  nine  the  next  morning ;  and  the  day  after,  took 
the  train  to  Frankfort.  There  we  boarded  a  steamer 
for  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Once  in  that  city  my  way  was 
clear.  The  old  hero,  Levi  Coffin,  president,  director,  and 
proprietor  of  the  "Underground  Kailroad,"  was  always 
grandly  ready  with  advice.  He  went  with  me  to  one 
of  his  friends,  who  at  once  solved  the  problem  by  taking 
my  prize  into  his  own  family  and  adopting  her. 


CHAPTEE    V. 
Emily  Ward, 

PMILY  WAKD  was  the  property  of  a  family  of  that 
•^  name  closely  related  to  a  man  who,  from  time  to 
time,  did  me  much  evil.  She  was  of  a  bright  brunette 
complexion,  and  her  age  not  over  seventeen.  She  had 
been  sold  to  slavetraders,  and  by  them  committed  to 
the  safekeeping  of  a  family  living  in  a  two-story  house 
facing  the  Ohio  river.  The  house  had  -a  cellar,  and  an 
attic  also,  and  in  this  attic  she  was  confined  to  await 
the  convenience  of  the  traders  to  remove  her  to  New 
Orleans. 

A  messenger  came  to  me  with  the  intelligence  of 
her  situation,  and  I  at  once  prepared  to  help  her.  I 
wrote  a  brief  letter  as  follows: 

"I  come  to  release  you.  Dress  in  boy's  clothes 
quick,  if  you  can,  and  come  down  from  the  window  on  a 
rope  if  you  have  one.  If  not,  make  one  of  blankets, 
and  come  down." 

I  crossed  on  the  ferry,  found  two  large  pine  logs 
in  the  water  near  the  place,  and  selected  one  as  our 
ship.  Then  placing  myself  between  two  buildings,  I 

20 


EMILY   WARD.  21 

tossed  pebbles  against  the  window  until  I  attracted  her 
attention,  and  exhibited  my  letter — rolled  up  and  tied 
with  a  string — in  such  a  way  as  to  indicate  what  I 
wanted.  She  let  down  a  string,  pulled  up  the  letter, 
read  it,  nodded  assent,  and  soon  lowering  her  blanket 
rope,  slid  out  on  it,  and  down  to  the  ground,  and  in  a 
short  time  we  were  crossing  the  river.  When  we 
reached  Cincinnati,  Emily  was  placed  in  the  care  of  the 
Apostle  of  Freedom,  Levi  Coffin,  and  his  peerless  wife, 
"Aunt  Katie."  We  passed  the  night  in  intense  excite 
ment,  not  knowing  but  some  vigilant  eye  had  followed 
our  flight,  and  that  in  an  unguarded  moment  the  slave- 
hunters  might  pounce  upon  us.  We  watched  through 
the  long  hours,  planning  many  ways  of  escape ;  but  we 
were  unmolested,  and  the  next  day  was  devoted  to  the 
fitting  up  of  my  ward  for  a  northern  journey,  by  the 
good  ladies  belonging  to  the  families  of  S.  P.  Chase, 
Gamaliel  Bailey,  and  Samuel  Lewis.  Nightfall  found 
us  ready  to  move  to  a  place  of  greater  security.  Emily 
had  been  dressed  in  the  most  approved  style,  in  the 
best  silk,  with  kid  gloves  on  her  hands,  and  a  veil 
covering  her  charming  brunette  face.  My  horse  and 
buggy  stood  waiting  a  square  away,  and  just  as  twilight 
began  to  fall  we  were  ready  to  start.  Levi  looked  from 
his  south  window  and  exclaimed: 

"Calvin,  I  think  the  hunters  are  looking  for  Emily! 


22  HOW  "THE   WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

There  is  the  officer  who  makes  it  his  business,  and 
another  man  with  him,  coming  right  this  way.  Take 
Emily  quick,  go  out  through  the  back  door  into  the 
street,  turn  the  corner,  and  come  around  in  front  and 
go  to  the  buggy." 

Emily  looked — "  There  is  my  old  master!" 
In  an  instant  we  were  out  of  the  room  and  on  the 
sidewalk,  Emily  holding  my  arm.  While  we  were 
passing  along  the  eastern  walk,  turning  the  corner, 
approaching  the  front  gate  with  an  air  of  calm  indiffer 
ence,  the  hunters  had  been  admitted  to  the  house. 
They  looked  hurriedly,  begged  pardon  for  the  intrusion, 
and  hastened  out  to  the  front  again  in  such  a  way  as  to 
arouse  the  most  desperate  apprehension  for  our  safety. 
We  had  approached  so  near  the  gate,  it  was  unsafe  to 
retreat,  or  even  slacken  our  steps,  for  fear  of  creating  a 
suspicion  of  our  identity.  It  was  apparent  that  we 
were  to  come  in  contact  with  our  foe,  and  all  we  could 
do  was  to  maintain  courage  and  composure.  As  we 
approached  the  gate  with  an  appearance  of  careless 
security,  the  old,  eagle-eyed,  demon-hearted  master 
opened  it  upon  Emily,  who  walked  next  to  the  fence. 
He  jostled  her  against  me,  and  even  crowded  so  near 
that  it  seemed,  at  the  time,  his  purpose  was  inspection, 
and  capture  if  he  recognized  his  victim.  All  our  hopes 
of  safety  were  put  to  flight ;  it  seemed  almost  certain 


JOHN  HAMILTON.  23 

that  this  one  day  of  liberty  was  to  be  the  first  and  the 
last  for  Emily  Ward.  Her  heart  beat  so  violently, 
so  audibly,  that  I  could  distinctly  hear  it,  as  she  stag 
gered  against  me.  But  she  did  not  betray  her  agitation. 

The  instant  the  old  master  discovered  his  rudeness, 
he  almost  prostrated  himself  at  the  feet  of  the  girl  he 
sought,  with  manacles  in  his  pocket  for  the  hands  and 
arms  then  gloved  in  kid,  and  draped  in  silk.  He  had 
not  recognized  her. 

"Oh!  I  beg  your  pardon,  lady — I  beg  your  pardon. 
Accept  my  apologies,  sir,  will  you?" 

"Oh,  certainly,  certainly,"  I  replied. 

They  passed  to  the  east,  we  to  the  west,  and  in  five 
minutes  we  were  driving,  behind  a  fast  horse,  out  of 
the  city,  and  away  from  danger.  It  was  a  narrow 
escape,  and  we  hardly  dared  to  breathe  freely,  until  we 
had  put  twenty  miles  or  more  between  us  and  our 
enemies.  A  few  days  more,  and  this  child  of  bondage 
was  singing — her  sorrows  over — safe  under  the  protec 
tion  of  the  British  Lion.  Subsequently  she  returned 
to  the  United  States,  and  lived  in  peace  and  safety. 

John   Hamilton. 

A  few  days  after  this  rescue  I  met  a  young  man 
named  John  Hamilton,  thirsting  for  freedom,  and 
espoused  his  cause.  Remembering  the  pine  log  anch- 


24  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

ored  to  the  shore,  where  I  found  the  one  on  which 
Emily  escaped,  I  appropriated  it,  put  him  on  board, 
and  set  sail.  We  had  to  sit  astride  it,  but  it  was  as 
safe  for  the  fugitive  as  the  "Great  Eastern."  I  left 
this  young  man  with  Uncle  Levi,  as  usual ;  and  keeping 
track  of  him,  I  am  quite  sure  he  was  afterward  shot  in 
South  Carolina,  during  an  election  campaign. 

The  Stanton  Family. 

I  had  just  rescued  Emily  Ward  and  John  Hamilton, 
when  a  whole  family  sold  to  a  dealer  in  human 
bodies,  cried  out: 

"Come  over  to  Kentucky,  and  help  us!" 
Casey  was  an  expert,  and  he  and  I  at  once  laid  cm- 
plans  to  go  over  to  the  Kentucky  side  for  a  load  of 
straw.  We  constructed  a  rack  just  the  size  of  the 
interior  of  the  straw  rack,  two  feet  high,  and  strong 
enough  to  protect  a  part  of  the  family  under  it,  and 
proceeded  to  the  barn  of  a  free  African,  very  near 
the  Stanton  family,  who  were  promptly  on  the  spot.  We 
spread  about  one  foot  of  straw  on  the  bottom  of  the 
wagon,  upon  which  five  of  the  children  were  laid,  and 
then  three  feet  more  of  straw  loaded  over  them.  Upon 
this,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stanton,  and  the  oldest  son  were 
placed,  and  carefully  covered  with  another  layer  of  the 
straw.  Then  we  had  a  load  worth  twenty-four  hundred 


THE  STANTON  FAMILY.  25 

dollars.  Once  in  Cincinnati,  there  were  as  many  places 
of  safety  as  the  number  of  fugitives  demanded.  There 
were  a  father,  mother,  and  six  children  saved  from  the 
jaws  of  hell,  through  the  exercise  of  charity,  courage, 
and  prudence,  disciplined  by  experience. 


CHAPTER    VI. 
Eliza. 

T  NOW  approach  the  most  extraordinary  incident  in 
•*•  my  history,  except  my  long  imprisonment,  I  can 
not  recall  the  exact  date.  I  only  remember  that  it  was 
early  in  May,  1843,  that  my  sympathy  and  patriotism 
were  roused  in  behalf  of  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and 
exquisite  young  girls  one  could  expect  to  find  in  free 
dom  or  slavery.  She  was  the  daughter  of  her  master, 
whose  name  I  withhold  for  laudable  reasons,  and  was  as 
free  of  African  blood  as  Kate  McFarland,  being  only 
one  sixty-fourth  African.  She  was  self-educated,  and 
accomplished  in  literature  and  social  manners,  in  spite 
of  the  institution  cursing  her  race ;  and  her  heartless, 
jealous  mistress  had  doomed  her  to  be  sold  on  the 
block,  hating  her  for  her  beauty  and  accomplishments. 
Eliza  had  been  confined  in  an  upper  room  of  the  Lex 
ington  jail.  She  recognized  me  as  I  was  walking  in 
the  jail-yard,  and  drew  my  attention  by  tapping  upon 
the  window.  I  called  upon  her  in  her  room,  learned 
her  situation,  and  hastened  to  Cincinnati  to  Levi  Coffin, 

26 


ELIZA.  27 

then  with  him  to  Hon.  S.  P.  Chase,  Nicholas  Longworth, 
Samuel  Lewis  and  others,  returning  to  Lexington  with 
twenty-two  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars,  and  a 
paper  authorizing  me  to  draw  twenty-five  thousand  if 
necessary  to  save  the  girl.  I  was  invincible,  Eliza 
was  assured ;  but  she  feared,  as  was  natural,  dreading 
the  uncertainty,  shrinking  from  the  possibility  of  being 
offered  up  a  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  lust  and  greed. 

There  were  two  thousand  people  at  that  sale,  repre 
senting  the  wealth  and  culture  of  Boston,  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Cincinnati,  Washington,  New 
Orleans,  Louisville,  and  Frankfort ;  also  the  city  of  Lex 
ington  and  vicinity.  There  were  ladies  and  gentlemen, 
slave-masters  and  mistresses,  and  speculators  in  human 
chattels — all  anxiously  waiting.  Hon.  Kobert  Wick- 
liffe— brother  of  the  late  Charles  A.  Wickliffe,  Post 
master-General  under  John  Tyler, — the  master  of  five 
hundred  slaves,  was  there  with  his  family.  And  a 
short,  thick-necked,  black-eyed  Frenchman  from  New 
Orleans,  the  co-conspirator  with  the  girl's  mistress,  was 
there.  And  I  was  there,  and  defied  the  powers  of  dark 
ness  to  foil  my  purpose,  my  righteous  purpose.  I  felt 
confident  of  my  ability  to  compete  with  any  man  whose 
only  stimulus  was  lust  or  greed,  and  rose  above  all 
thought  of  danger  in  the  rescue  of  the  hapless  girl. 
At  my  left  stood  Eliza's  aunt,  a  cool,  intrepid,  self- 


28  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

poised  woman,  and  at  my  right  were  two  counselors-at- 
law  retained  in  my  service. 

Upon  the  block,  before  all  that  gazing  multitude, 
stood  the  auctioneer  by  his  victim,  who  seemed  ready 
to  drop  to  the  earth — not  a  man,  with  a  touch  of  manly 
feeling,  but  the  embodiment  of  Diabolus,  trained  and 
anxious  for  his  work.  He  directed  attention  to  the  val 
uable  piece  of  property,  using  all  his  cultivated  art  to 
enhance  its  interest,  calling  particular  attention  to  her 
exquisite  qualities  as  a  mistress  for  any  gentleman. 
And  this  he  kept  prominent,  in  the  most  insinuating 
and  vile  manner,  outraging  common  decency. 

Bids  began  at  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and 
went  up  to  five  hundred,  when  the  more  respectable 
men  of  the  South  left  the  field  to  the  Frenchman  and 
myself. 

When  twelve  hundred  dollars  was  reached,  my  an 
tagonist  turned  to  me  with  an  evil  gleam  in  his  eyes, 
and  said: 

"How  high  are  you  going  to  bid?" 

"Higher  than  you  do,  Monsieur." 

And  the  bids  rose  to  thirteen  hundred.  Again  my 
enemy,  shrugging  his  shoulders,  nervously  asked: 

"How  high  are  you  going  to  bid?" 

And  again  J  replied:  "Higher  than  you  do,  sir. 
You  cannot  raise  money  enough  to  take  her." 


ELIZA.  29 

Our  bidding  had  become  slower,  more  cautious,  each 
ready  to  take  advantage  of  the  other.  Then  the  villain 
on  the  block,  becoming  impatient,  raved  and  cursed, 
crying:  "Give!  give!  give!"  for  the  higher  the  bids 
rose,  the  more  anxious  he  became. 

I  bid  fourteen  hundred  and  fifty.  My  contestant 
stood  silent.  The  hammer  rose — trembled — lowered — 
rose — fell — and  the  fiend  flushed,  and  quick  as  thought 
dropped  his  hammer,  and  unbuttoning  Eliza's  dress, 
threw  it  back,  exhibiting  to  the  gaze  of  two  thousand 
people,  her  superb  neck  and  breast,  shouting  in  the 
true  professional  tone: 

"Look  here,  gentlemen!  Who  is  going  to  lose  such 
a  chance  as  this  ?  Here  is  a  girl  fit  to  be  the  mistress 
of  a  king!" 

A  suppressed  cry  of  shame,  and  contempt — of  anger 
and  grief — a  bitter  murmur  of  Kentucky  wrath  and 
disgust,  rolled  like  a  wave  through  that  throng.  South 
ern  women  blushed,  and  Mr.  Wickliffe  hung  his  head 
for  shame;  and  such  exclamations  as  "Too  bad!" 
"What  a  shame!"  "Horrible!"  could  be  heard  on 
every  side,  from  both  North  and  South. 

Bids  rose  to  fourteen  hundred  and  seventy-five. 
That  was  my  bid.  Then  there  was  another  lull  in  the 
contest,  another  moment  of  suspense.  My  antagonist 
eyed  me  viciously,  and  asked  the  third  time: 


30  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

"How  high  are  you  going  to  bid?" 

Now  I  thought  it  time  to  let  him  know  my  real 
purpose. 

"It  is  none  of  your  business,  sir;  but  understand 
that  you  cannot  command  money  enough  to  take  this 
girl." 

The  auctioneer  seemed  at  his  wits'  end,  and  then 
followed  a  scene  at  which  civilization  blushed,  and 
angels  wept,  and  the  human  heart  sickened  and  turned 
away;  for  to  stimulate  bidding,  to  appeal  to  and  rouse 
the  lowest  passions  in  man,  he  turned  his  victim's  pro 
file  to  that  excited  crowd,  and  lifting  her  skirts,  laid 
bare  her  beautiful,  symmetrical  body,  from  her  feet  to 
her  waist,  and  with  his  brutal,  sacrilegious  hand  smote 
her  white  flesh,  exclaiming : 

"Ah!  gentlemen,  who  is  going  to  be  the  winner  of 
this  prize  ?  Whose  is  the  next  bid  ?  " 

The  people  had  forgotten  their  identity  with  the 
"Institution."  They  had  lost  their  latitude,  and  their 
social  level.  The  exhibition  of  a  beautiful,  helpless 
'Caucasian  girl,  in  the  shambles  of  Republican  Amer 
ica,  had  taken  all  the  aristocracy  out  of  them. 

"Shame!  shame!"  they  cried;  and  Boston  and 
New  Orleans  shed  tears,  wept,  side  by  side. 

The  Frenchman  bid  fourteen  hundred  and  eighty. 
The  hammer  rose  high,  quivered,  lowered.  Eliza  gave 


ELIZA.  31 

me  an  appealing,  agonized  look,  and  her  aunt  turned 
on  me  a  glance  I  shall  never  forget. 

"Are  you  all  done?  Once — twice — do  I  hear  no 
more?  th-r-e-e"  —and  the  hammer  quivered,  as  the 
Frenchman's  face  flushed  with  triumph.  "  Th-r-e-e  " — 
and  the  hammer  fell  slowly— 

"Fourteen  hundred  and  eighty-five!" 

My  contestant  turned  away,  with  an  air  of  indiffer 
ence. 

"Eighty-five — eighty-five — eighty-five.  I'm  going 
to  sell  this  girl  in  one  minute.  Are  you  going  to  bid 
.again?  "  The  Frenchman  shook  his  head. 

"Once — twice — th-r-e-e  times — and  gone." 

The  hammer  fell.     She  was  mine.     She  fainted. 

"You've  got  her  d — d  cheap,  sir,"  said  the  auc 
tioneer.  ""What  are  you  going  to  do  with  her?" 

"Free  her,  sir,"  I  cried,  and  woke  a  cheer  which  rose 
to  a  true  Kentucky  shout  that  rent  the  air  and  rang 
"far  and  wide,  proclaiming  liberty  to  the  captives  of 
America,  Russia,  Brazil,  and  all  the  world." 

Eliza  was  then  borne  to  the  carriage  of  Mr.  Wick- 
liffe,  which  was  standing  near — borne  by  the  repre 
sentatives  of  wealth  and  power,  and  driven  to  her  aunt's 
in  the  city,  and  attended  by  the  elite  of  Kentucky — a 
retinue  fit  to  be  the  escort  of  a  princess.  Her  free 


32  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

papers  were  soon  made  legal,  and  as  I  entered  the  room 
adjoining  the  one  she  occupied,  I  heard  her  say: 

"Auntie,  where  is  my  savior?" 

Her  aunt  not  being  in  the  room,  the  question  was 
answered  by  an  old,  Christian,  free  black  woman, 
physically  and  morally  a  facsimile  of  "Sojourner 
Truth": 

"  Child,  your  Savior  is  in  heaven.  Yes,  honey,  your 
Savior  is  in  heaven." 

"No,  auntie,  I  mean  Mr.  Fairbank." 

Just  then  I  stepped  into  the  room,  and  handing  her 
the  folded  papers,  said: 

"Here  I  am,  Eliza." 

"Mr.  Fairbank,  what  are  you  going  to  do  with  me?" 

"Nothing;  you  can  do  for  yourself." 

"But  I  belong  to  you." 

"  No,  you  have  your  free  papers.  You  are  as  free 
as  I  am." 

She  looked,  she  read. 

"Am  I  dreaming?"  she  murmured,  "am  I  dream- 
ing?" 

A  lady  who  had  attended  her  from  the  sale  said: 
"  Let  me  see  the  papers ;"  and  looking  them  over  care 
fully,  and  passing  them  back,  said:  "Eliza,  you  are  as 
free  as  Governor  Letcher." 


ELIZA.  33 

But  it  was  difficult  for  her  to  realize  the  blessed 
truth.  She  turned  the  papers  over  and  over — 

"I  must  be  dreaming." 

"No,  honey,"  said  the  old  colored  woman, — "no, 
you  are  free." 

"Oh,  is  it  possible?  Is  it  possible?  Blessed  Lord! 
Who  has  done  this  for  me !  It  is  surely  the  work  of  my 
Jesus.  Oh,  my  blessed  Lord,  I  am  committed  to  Thee 
for  life  and  death !  Hallelujah!  Praise  the  Lord!" 

"Mr.  Fairbank,  what  is  your  will,  that  I  may  obey?" 
she  asked,  when  her  transport  of  joy  was  over. 

"Eliza,  I  would  like  to  take  you  to  Cincinnati, 
place  you  in  a  family  of  wealth  and  high  social  position 
in  which  you  can  be  an  equal,  finish  your  education 
and  live  the  remainder  of  your  life  in  peace,  plenty, 
honor  and  usefulness." 

"Mr.  Fairbank,  I  will  go  wherever  you  wish  to 
take  me." 

It  was  decided.  After  four  days  we  took  the  train 
for  Frankfort,  and  thence  by  boat  to  Cincinnati.  There 
she  was  educated,  there  she  married,  and  has  for  forty- 
three  years  filled  a  position  of  honor  and  usefulness  in 
society,  and  none  but  her  husband  and  a  few  chosen 
friends  know  that  she  was  ever  a  slave,  or  that  she  has 
a  drop  of  African  blood  in  her  veins. 

Her  master  was  well-disposed.    He  had,  just  before 


34  HOW   "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

the  sale,  paid  twenty  thousand  dollars  as  the  price  of 
generosity  toward  an  unlucky  friend.  It  was  not  his 
wish  that  she  should  be  sold,  and  he  came  to  me  and 
said : 

"Here,  Mr.  Fairbank — here  is  one  hundred  dollars; 
all  that  I  have.  Take  seventy-five  of  it,  save  my  child 
if  you  can.  Keep  the  money,  no  matter  what  you  have 
to  pay  for  Eliza." 

But  no  need  to  dwell  any  longer  on  this  sale.  It 
was  the  most  remarkable  I  ever  witnessed. 

William  Minnis 

was  willed  free  by  his  master  upon  his  death  in  Jessa 
mine  county,  Kentucky,  about  fifteen  miles  from  Lex 
ington.  He,  as  well  as  the  other  servants  made  free 
by  this  will,  was  kept  in  entire  ignorance,  even  by  the 
executor  of  the  will,  and  others  privy  to  it,  whose  sworn 
or  implied  oath  bound  them  to  inform  such  legatees  of 
their  right.  William,  knowing  nothing  of  the  law,  or 
the  fact,  raised  no  voice, — entered  no  protest,  which 
might  have  saved  him  and  his  friends  indescribable 
anguish,  a  whole  year's  servitude  at  Little  Kock,  Arkan 
sas,  where  he  was  sold  by  his  master's  son  and  successor, 
and  his  friends  in  Lexington,  Kentucky,  and  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  heavy  expenditure  and  extreme  peril. 

Ten  months  had  passed  away  since  July,  1842,  and 


WILLIAM  MINNIS.  35 

Dennis  Seals — I  think  his  name  was  Dennis — had 
brooded  over  the  fate  of  a  boy  for  whose  person  and 
family  he  had  cherished  the  most  kindly  attachment. 
He,  with  Nancy  Straus  in  the  city,  Father  Ferril,  a 
minister  of  high  repute  in  the  city  of  Lexington,  Henry 
Boyd,  William  Watson,  Kitty  Dorum,  the  Morrises  and 
Taylors,  and  others  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  were  soon  in 
alliance,  pledged  in  any  amount  necessary  for  the  vin 
dication  of  the  rights  of  this  worthy  young  slave. 

May  was  fairly  ushered.  Eliza  had  been  duly  in 
ducted  into  her  new  home.  Seals  at  once — as  the  boys 
say — "caught  on."  The  case  of  Eliza — her  sale — 
rescue — in  Lexington  at  the  mouth  of  hell,  had  stirred 
the  public,  high  and  low,  to  a  ferment;  and  my  name 
was  in  the  mind  and  mouth  of  every  one.  Hope,  glory, 
and  shame  excited  the  masses — hope  for  the  oppressed, 
glory  in  the  pluck  of  the  man  who  dared,  and  shame 
for  the  crime  of  Kentucky.  Seals  drank  of  the  hope 
and  glory.  He  appeared  in  Cincinnati  soon  as  we 
arrived;  sought  me  out;  sought  out  the  "sentinels;" 
and  all  in  convention,  with  the  acquiescence  and  advice 
of  the  old  hero,  Levi  Coffin,  laid  a  plan  for  the  rescue. 
I  was  summoned  before  the  council,  and  approved  the 
plan.  I  was  to  undertake  the  very  hazardous  enter 
prise. 

With  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  my  hands  I 


36  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

bade  farewell  to  friends,  country,  and  life.  I  felt  that 
the  chances  for  life  and  liberty  were  against  me :  to  go 
into  wild  Arkansas  upon  an  errand  of  charity  in  behalf 
of  an  unknown  boy  whose  character  and  physique  were 
entirely  strange  to  me — against  a  favorite  idea  and 
institution — among  a  wild,  half-civilized,  half -barbarous 
people  who  valued  life  less  than  money,  and  their  social 
cornerstone, — less  than  to  brook  an  insult.  But  the 
Rubicon  was  crossed. 

I  left  Cincinnati  on  the  13th  day  of  May,  1843,  I 
think,  and  arrived  in  Little  Kock  sometime  during  the 
16th,  and  began  a  careful,  diligent  inquiry  for  my  boy. 
Every  one  scanned  me  with  suspicion.  There  were 
three  classes :  the  ruling,  upper  class  of  whites ;  the  poor 
"white  trash,"  who  were,  morally  and  intellectually,  on 
a  level  with  or  below  the  slaves  they  watched  for  their 
subsistence;  and  the  slave.  The  whites  suspected  the 
stranger,  if  he  appeared  at  all  in  command  of  himself, 
as  an  enemy  to  the  "Divine  Institution."  The  slave,  as 
an  enemy  to  his  race, — seeking  bargains  in  human 
property.  So,  I  was  held  at  arm's-length  by  one,  and 
closely,  most  ingeniously  and  treacherously  interviewed 
by  the  other.  But  I  had  been  in  the  world  too  long, 
and  seen  too  much  of  men  and  things  to  be  drawn  on 
and  sold. 

I  put  up  at  a  hotel  in  which,  after  four  weeks'  care- 


WILLIAM  MINNIS.  37 

ful,  apparently  careless,  indifferent  investigation  I  dis 
covered  that  William  was  a  servant, — hired  out  by  his 
master,  who  lived  in  another  part  of  the  city.  I  tried 
all  plans  to  learn  the  names  of  the  men,  and  their  integ 
rity,  that  I  might  make  some  inquiry  for  my  boy. 
After  about  four  weeks  I  conceived  a  plan  to  call  for  a 
"boy"  to  carry  my  carpet-sack  to  the  boat,  to  take  a 
short  trip  to  the  next  town ;  and  calling  one  of  the  ser 
vants,  I  said:  "Boy,  see  here!  take  this  to  the  boat  for 
me." 

"Mas',  dat  not  my  work.  Dat  Bill's  work.  He  do 
dat  are  work." 

Well,  now,  I  thought,  I've  got  so  much;  maybe  I've 
found  my  boy;  and  Dimond  called  out, 

"Bill!  see  here.     Dis  here  geman  want  you. 

"Bill"  took  my  bag;  and  all  quiet,  a  little  way 
out  I  ventured  to  ask, — "What  is  your  name?" 

"William  Minnis." 

Now,  just  imagine  my  surprise. 

"How  long  have  you  been  in  this  city?" 

"Well,  massa,  jis'  about  a  year  ago  I  lef  Lexing 
ton,  Kentucky.  I  was  sol'  to  de  traider,  Pullum,  an' 
he  fotch  me  here  an'  sol'  me.  I  belongs  to  Mr.  Bren- 
nan,  an'  he  hires  me  out  here  at  de  hotel." 

There!  all  in  a  lump  I  had  the  whole  story. 

"Did  your  master  live  in  Jessamine  county?" 


30  HOW  "THE   WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

"Yes,  sir." 

"He  died,  and  his  son  sold  you,  eh?" 

"Yes,  sir.     Did  you  know  him?" 

"  Yes.  William,  did  you  know  Dennis  Seals,  and 
Nancy  Straus,  and  Father  Ferril?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Did  you  ever  know  that  your  master  willed  you 
free  before  he  died?  and  that  your  young  master  sold 
you,  knowing  all  about  it?" 

"  No,  sir,  I  did  not." 

That  quite  overcame  him.  He  panted  like  a  scared 
bird.  I  said  to  him:  "Go  back  with  my  bag.  I'll  not 
take  the  boat.  Come  to  my  room  to-night  as  early  as 
you  can  safely." 

After  four  weeks  I  had  found  out  the  riddle.  I  had 
already  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  Creole-French 
barber  and  a  New-England  teacher — a  lady  skilled  in 
portraiture.  I  had,  after  four  weeks'  careful,  prudent, 
anxious,  mostly  reticent  inquiry,  found  the  object  of 
my  mission. 

William  Minnis  was  a  well-developed,  finely-organ 
ized,  smooth,  handsome  mulatto  of  eighteen,  worth, 
probably,  in  that  vicinity,  eight  hundred  dollars.  I 
was  satisfied  at  once  of  his  integrity ;  and,  without  the 
least  restraint,  divulged  to  him  the  whole  secret.  Of 
course,  there  was  the  possibility  of  danger — of  indis- 


WILLIAM  MINNIS.  39 

creet  communication, — of  inconsiderate  words — even  of 
treachery.  But  I  could  discover  nothing  from  which  I 
could  draw  the  conclusion  of  the  faintest  probability 
of  danger  arising  from  either. 

Now,  for  MY  PLAN:  my  French-Creole  I  had  found 
voluntarily,  deeply  interested  in  the  future  well-being — 
the  oppressed  side  of  his  oppressed  people.  I  confided 
in  him.  I  withhold  his  name,  not  from  any  sense  of 
danger  to  any  one — not  from  policy,  but  because  it  was 
so  peculiarly  French,  that,  though  I  cultivated  a  pleas 
ant  acquaintance  with  him  for  five  weeks,  it  had  evapo 
rated  through  the  law  of  association  in  five  more  weeks, 
so  that  I  entertained  not  the  slightest  conception  of  its 
form. 

My  other  assistant  married  and  settled  in  Arkansas, 
and,  for  aught  I  know,  may  be  living  in  that  vicinity 
to-day — among  a  people  to  whom  such  antecedents 
would  not  only  not  be  popular,  but  decidedly  and 
dangerously  unpopular. 

That  night  William  met  me  in  my  room.  Our 
plan,  in  a  nut-shell,  was:  1.  To  find  a  man  like  whom 
William  could  be  made  to  appear — wig,  beard,  mus 
tache,  etc.  William  knew  a  young  man  from  up  the 
river,  Mr.  Young,  with  whom  Mr.  Brennan  had  formed 
the  slightest  acquaintance,  to  whom,  under  like  circum 
stances — like  dress,  hair,  beard,  and  mustache,  he  bore 


40'  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

a  very  strong  physical  resemblance, — a  real  facsimile. 

2.  My  Frenchman  could  "do  him  up  brown"  in  all 
that,  so  as  to  pass  for  Mr.  Young:  long  black  hair,  a 
wig,  whiskers   and  mustache,  in  true  Southern  style. 

3.  My  Yankee  girl  could  bring  the  complexion,  already 
fair,  to  any  required  shade.    This  we  decided  next  day. 

4.  A  certain  boat  left  the  wharf  about  twilight  for  her 
trip  to  Cincinnati.    We  must  go  on  that — the  same  boat 
which  had  just  left.      5.   Mr.  Brennan  often  took  this 
boat  for  Yicksburg,  where  he  was  concerned  in  business. 
In  case  of  such  a  concurrence — the  master  and  slave 
meeting — if  necessarily  involving  social  etiquette,  Mr. 
Minnis  must  be  ready  to  play  Mr.  Young. 

Everything  was  settled  as  to  manner.  The  time  of 
escape  must  be  left  for  circumstances  to  decide;  and 
that  would  probably  be  a  word  and  a  move.  My  bag 
was  always  packed  after  noon. 

Finally,  on  the  evening  before  the  departure  of  the 
boat,  e'arly  in  July — about  the  fourth, — we  took  the  risk 
of  our  recitation,  or  rehearsal,  in  the  private  room  of 
our  Frenchman,  in  presence  of  our  Yankee  girl.  All 
was  most  complete.  Minnis  presented  a  facsimile  of 
the  Southerner  we  wished  him  to  personate — good 
height,  graceful  in  bearing ;  speech,  anent-dialect. 

Be  it  remembered,  most  Southern  people  speak  with 
the  same  provincialism — anent-dialect  and  tone,  as 


WILLIAM  MINNIS.  41 

the  slaves  who  serve  them;  as  instances,  Mr.  Berrien, 
of  Georgia,  was  accustomed  to  say  "dis  here,"  "dat  ar." 
Captain  Newton  Craig,  my  old  prison-keeper,  used 
to  say,  "thar,"  for  there;  "/ar,"  for  fair;  "Farbank," 
for  Fairbank.  So,  with  a  little  training  Minnis 
presented  a  fine  specimen  of  a  Southern  chevalier. 
I  had  felt  all  through  the  day — it  was  the  fourth  of 
July — that  the  time  was  imminent;  that  we  must 
be  like  the  bird  watching  the  approach  of  an  enemy — 

"  Nor  willed  to  go,  nor  dared  to  stay, 
But,  warbling  mellow,  sped  away." 

The  sun  had  gone  behind  the  bluff.  Our  boat 
would  be  on  the  move  in  thirty  minutes.  The  word 
came  to  me  with  an  impression, 

"  Such  as  a  sudden  passing  bell 
Makes,  though  but  for  a  stranger's  knell." 

In  a  moment  I  was  oft',  Mr.  Young  (?)  by  my  side — 
gold-headed  cane  in  hand.  My  bill  had  been  settled. 
Mr.  Young  accidentally  struck  my  way;  and  in  a  few 
minutes  we  were  in  the  cabin.  The  Rubicon  had  been 
crossed.  Our  bridges  were  burned  behind  us.  It  was 
now,  "liberty  or  death."  There  was  nothing,  now,  to 
be  gained  by  our  close,  particular  association .;  and  we 
simply  associated  as  the  other  passengers. 

But, — Mr.  Young  had  signified  to  me  in  an  earnest 
way, — betraying  no  trepidation  noticeable  by  others, 


42  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

1  'Mr.  Brennan  is  on  the  boat."  I  said,  apparently  in  a 
joke,  "Put  on  airs." 

Very  soon,  walking  at  leisure  in  the  cabin,  filled 
with  business  men  and  pleasure-seekers,  they  met  — 
recognized  with  some  surprise.— 

"Mr.  Brennan!" 

"Mr.  Young!" 

"Of— fine  evening." 

"  Very,  sir,  very" 

And  the  colloquy  ended.  The  crisis  had  been 
passed.  Our  plans  had  more  than  met  our  expectations. 

We  retired  early ;  and  so  avoided  a  second  encounter, 
which  might  possibly  have  resulted  in  harm  to  us  both. 
When  morning  dawned,  the  danger  had  passed.  Mr. 
Brennan  had  left  the  boat,  taking  a  down-river  craft  for 
Vicksburg. 

Now,  maybe  all  this  had  to  be  done  by  the  instru 
mentality  of  lies.  I  don't  think  so.  It  was  strategy, 
to^avoid  injustice.  That  is  no  lie.  "A  lie  is  the  mis 
representation  of  the  truth  to  the  injury  of  some  party 
having  a  right  to  know  the  truth." — PKES.  MAHAN. 

Mr.  Minnis  had  changed  his  name  from  William 
Minnis  to  John  Crawford,  by  which  I  knew  him  after 
ward.  We  were  several  days  reaching  Cincinnati,  the 
boat  stopping  at  all  towns  of  any  importance  for  trade. 

I  said,  a  little  while  ago,  "the  danger  had  passed." 


WILLIAM  MINNIS.  43 

Often,  when  we  think  we  are  out  of  danger  we  are  in 
danger.  Pullum,  the  slave-trader  of  the  vicinity  of 
Lexington,  Kentucky — whom  I  knew  well — who  had 
sold  Mr.  Crawford  (Minnis)  at  Little  Rock,  was  at 
Memphis,  Tennessee,  transacting  the  same  class  of  busi 
ness.  That  teas  his  only  business.  While  we  lay 
there  waiting  the  affairs  of  the  boat  he  came  011  board, 
and  recognized  me  at  once.  We  had  a  long  and  varied 
talk,  about  everything;  and  especially  about  Little 
Rock;  and  among  other  things  he  spoke  of  a  "Minnis 
boy  whom  I  sold  there.  He  had  belonged  to  Minnis, 
of  Jessamine  county.  Did  you  know  him?" 

"  Oh,  yes.  He  is  owned  by  Mr.  Brennan — hired  at 
the  Little  Eock  House.  He  makes  a  good  steward." 

"  Yes,  he's  smart.  I  made  three  hundred  dollars 
on  him." 

All  this  time  John  Crawford  was  giving  the  closest 
attention — heard  nearly  every  word — walked  pompously 
to  and  fro  swinging  his  gold-headed  cane  in  true 
Southern  style. 

After  an  hour's  talk,  and  trepidation  lest  the  slave- 
trader  might  identify  the  gentleman  once  a  part  of  his 
stock  in  trade,  the  bell  rang  as  a  signal  to  weigh  anchor, 
and  our  unwelcome  visitor,  politely  bowing  all  around, 
bade  us  "good  bye"  and  left  the  boat.  We  were  once 
more  relieved. 


44  HOW  "THE   WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

Several  times  before  reaching  Cincinnati  I  recog 
nized  and  was  recognized  by  Kentuckians,  but  not 
under  circumstances  to  excite  any  great  alarm.  We 
were  at  last  safe  in  Cincinnati,  in  care  of  friends ;  but 
deeming  the  situation  extremely  dangerous,  under  the 
Black  laws  of  Ohio, — (though  free  by  will,  all  papers 
on  the  subject  being  destroyed  through  the  treachery 
of  officials  whose  office  bound  them  in  fidelity  to  all 
persons,  he  was  a  "niggar;"  and  "a  black  man  has  no 
rights  tvhich  a  white  man  is  bound  to  respect. — CHIEF 
JUSTICE  TANEY), — Crawford  took  the  "flood  of  fortune," 
and  went  to  Canada.  I  saw  him  in  Toronto  in  1851. 
Next  year  he  went  to  California.  At  the  outbreak  of 
ihe  Eebellion  he  allied  himself  with  the  army,  and, 
upon  the  reception  of  the  black  man  as  a  soldier, 
"  shouldered  arms"  for  the  Union. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
My  First  Imprisonment. 

T  WAS  passing  Chapel  Hall  at  Oberlin,  Ohio,  in 
*  August,  1844,  when  a  call  from  an  upper  window 
drew  my  attention. 

"Brother  Fairbank!" 

It  was  John  M.  Brown,  now  Rev.  John  M.  Brown, 
D.D.,  a  bishop  in  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  resident  at  Washington.  The  case  of  Gil- 
son  Berry,  an  escaped  slave,  whose  wife  and  babies  had 
been  left  behind,  was  laid  before  me,  as  all  such  cases 
usually  were.  I  heard  the  call,  espoused  his  cause, 
and  after  commencement  left  for  Lexington,  Kentucky, 
where  I  found  Miss  Delia  A.  Webster  of  Vergennes, 
Vermont,  then  teaching  in  the  city,  and  ready  to  second 
my  efforts.  We  soon  found  the  escape  of  the  wife 
impracticable,  without  the  combination  of  some  other 
worthy  person.  An  appointment  was  made  for  her 
rescue,  but  for  reasons  never  explained  to  me,  she  did 
not  meet  the  appointment.  She  was  probably  detected, 
and  stopped,  or  so  closely  watched  as  to  render  her 
escape  dangerous,  and  perhaps  impossible. 

45 


46  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

Another  case  came  before  us :  that  of  Lewis  Hayden, 
now  Hon.  Lewis  Hayden. 

Mr.  Hayden  was  a  waiter  at  the  Brennan  House.  To 
toy  question: 

"  Why  do  you  want  your  freedom?"  he  replied: 

"Because  I'm  a  man." 

I  was  deeply  interested  in  him,  and  at  once  began 
to  plan  a  way  for  his  escape.  I  went  to  Ripley,  Ohio, 
where,  Dr.  Blanchard  of  Cincinnati  had  informed  me, 
I  would  find  friends  of  the  fugitives ;  and  it  was  not 
only  to  see  them,  but  to  learn  the  way  to  them,  that  I 
took  the  trip. 

While  crossing  on  the  ferry  in  the  morning,  from 
the  Kentucky  side,  with  my  horse,  I  noticed  a  man  above 
me,  crossing  in  a  skiff,  and  concluded  instantly  that  he 
would  be  a  good  source  of  information.  It  proved  true. 
He  was  Pete  Driscol,  a  spy,  a  patroller,  whose  business 
was  the  detection,  and  if  possible  the  capture,  of  fugi 
tive  slaves.  I  soon  met  him,  when  the  following  con 
versation  took  place : 

"Mister,  are  you  a  Kentuckian?" 

"Yes." 

"Well,  what  kind  of  a  place  is  this?" 

"It  is  a  black,  dirty,  Abolition  hole,  sir." 

So  far,  so  good — just  what  I  wanted  to  know ;  and 
now  how  to  fool  him  without  telling  an  absolute  lie.  I 


MY  FIRST  IMPRISONMENT.  47 

must  give  him  a  false  impression,  so  that  no  suspicion 
would  be  roused. 

"Is  not  this  a  great  hiding  place  for  runaway 
slaves?" 

"Yes." 

"Well,  I'm  just  from  Lexington,  and  I  am  interested 
in  discovering  the  hiding  places  among  the  Abolition 
ists." 

"Well,  sir,  you  see  that  red  house  there?  " 

"Yes." 

"There  Eli  C.  Collins  lives;  and  in  that  house  Levi 
Collins  lives ;  and  Dr.  Eankin  occupies  the  one  on  the 
hill." 

I  went  to  Collins',  as  directed  by  my  Kentuckian,  and 
as  he  advised  me  to  pass  for  a  good  Abolitionist  I  did 
so.  I  also  went  to  Dr.  Rankin's;  but  while  I  was  on 
my  way  to  his  house,  the  people,  having  seen  me  with 
Pete  Driscol,  set  me  down  as  a  slave-hunter,  and  sent 
young  Collins  ahead  of  me,  to  put  the  family  on  their 
guard.  So  I  learned  nothing  there,  and  supposed  that 
I  had  been  wrongly  advised.  I  returned  to  Mr. 
Eli  C.  Collins' ;  was  invited  to  dine ;  was  at  the  table, 
when  young  Collins  came  in,  and  with  fury  in  his  man 
ner,  ordered  me  to  leave  the  house — that  I  was  a  spy, 
a  slave-hunter.  He  was  plucky,  but  I  finished  my 
dinner,  and  .afterward  tried  to  convince  them  of  my 


48  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

oneness  with  them  in  the  cause.  And  all  the  time  Eli 
Collins  advised  the  largest  charity. 

"Maybe  he  is  a  friend.  We  will  see  when  the  time 
comes." 

I  then  said:  "I  like  your  zeal  in  this  cause,  even 
though  it  makes  you  reluctant  to  believe  in  me." 

It  was  altogether  an  unpleasant  experience,  for  I 
came  near  being  mobbed  by  the  girls  of  a  hotel,  and 
others  gathered  there  to  talk  over  the  case,  and  only 
escaped  by  hastening  away  from  the  house. 

On  Saturday,  the  28th  day  of  September,  1844,  at 
eight  P.  M.,  in  company  with  Miss  Webster,  and  the 
Haydens,  father,  mother,  and  one  son,  I  started  from 
Lexington  for  Ohio,  with  hack  and  driver  (a  slave). 
The  boy,  in  times  of  danger,  was  stowed  away  under 
the  seat  of  his  father  and  mother,  and  they  acted  as 
servants,  or  passed  as  white  lady  and  gentleman,  veiled 
and  cloaked,  as  occasion  required.  At  Millersburg, 
twenty-four  miles  out  from  Lexington,  we  lost  a  horse 
from  bots,  stood  an  hour  and  a  half  in  the  street,  took 
refreshments,  played  Yankee,  changed  horses,  escaped 
by  strategy,  crossed  the  Ohio  river  at  nine  o'clock 
in  the  morning  in  great  danger,  changed  teams  two 
miles  out  in  Ohio,  passed  through  Eipley,  and  back 
four  miles  to  Hopkins',  where  I  left  the  Hay  den  family. 
Then  I  returned  to  Eli  C.  Collins'  at  Bipley,  where  I 


MY  FIRST  IMPRISONMENT.  49 

had  left  Miss  Webster,  and  with  her  returned  to  Ken 
tucky,  resting  at  "Washington,  four  miles  south  of 
Maysville.  This  town  is  on  the  Ohio  river,  about 
sixty  miles  from  Cincinnati,  and  sixty-four  miles  from 
Lexington,  and  Hopkins'  is  fourteen  miles  beyond, 
making  seventy-eight  miles.  At  Millersburg  we  were 
met,  and  followed  closely  into  Lexington,  so  that  there 
was  no  escape;  and  after  making  a  hundred  and  fifty- 
six  miles  in  forty-eight  hours,  we  were  driven  to  the 
jail,  on  Monday  evening  at  eight  o'clock,  to  await  the 
result. 

I  had,  in  my  trepidation,  retained  on  my  person  a 
letter  signed  "Frater,"  addressed  to  parties  in  Oberlin, 
not  in  my  writing,  which  was  the  only  testimony  that 
could  be  brought  against  either  Miss  Webster,  or  my 
self.  Three  indictments  were  found  against  us,  suffi 
cient  to  imprison  us  for  sixty  years.  We  employed 
Sam  Shy  and  Leslie  Coombs  as  our  attorneys;  then,  in 
order  to  work  to  better  advantage,  we  had  the  cases 
separated,  upon  the  plea,  in  behalf  of  Miss  Webster, 
that  my  case  being  tried  upon  the  same  indictment 
with  hers,  what  was  evidence  against  me  would  be 
evidence  against  her  and  therefore  prejudicial  to  her 
case. 

Miss  Webster's  father,  Benaiah  Webster,  came  on 
from  Vermont,  and  every  influence  to  be  commanded 


50  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

was  brought  into  requisition  for  her  acquittal ;  but  she 
was  tried  and  sentenced  for  two  years,  upon  the  strength 
of  that  letter  found  on  my  person.  Mark  this,  so  that 
when  you  come  to  my  trial  in  Louisville  before  Judge 
Bullock,  in  February,  1852,  you  can  see  how  much 
liberty  courts  use  in  interpreting  common  law. 

The  jail  was  constantly  filled  with  slaves  brought 
In  for  sale,  and  often  visited  by  buyers  from  the  sur 
rounding  country,  and  from  New  Orleans,  for  that 
market.  There  were  also  in  the  jail  Kobert  Bartley,  of 
South  Carolina,  convicted  of  counterfeiting;  Jerry 
\IBran,  a  slave,  who  had  attempted  to  escape,  had  got 
into  Ohio,  was  captured,  brought  back,  and  put  in  jail 
-for  sale;  John  Minnis,  sent  to  jail  on  suspicion  of 
longing  for  freedom ;  and  Richard  Moore,  sentenced  to 
loe  hanged  for  breaking  the  neck  of  his  brutal  mistress, 
who  had  abused  him  in  ways  too  vile  to  be  spoken  of  in 
these  pages. 

I  had  relinquished  all  hope  of  acquittal ;  for  though 
no  legitimate  testimony  could  be  brought  against  me,  I 
realized  from  Miss  Webster's  case,  that  any  testimony, 
however  slight  or  indirect,  would  be  used  in  favor  of 
slavery,  and  for  the  punishment  of  those  working 
against  it.  So  I  began  to  look  about  for  a  way  of 
escape. 

Years  before,  some  prisoners  had  broken  through 


MY  FIRST  IMPRISONMENT.  51 

the  wall  on  the  north  side  of  the  jail-yard,  and  escaped, 
and  the  county  had  put  oak  planks  over  the  break — after 
replacing  the  stones  without  mortar — and  fastened 
these  planks  with  iron  bars  running  through  from  one 
side  to  the  other.  The  planks  had  become  warped,  and 
cracked,  and  I  found  that  by  working  them  up  and 
down,  I  could  break  the  iron  bars.  Then  the  planks 
•could  be  removed,  then  the  stone,  so  that  whoever 
wanted  to  escape,  could  do  so. 

I  was  in  stiff  irons,  weighing  twenty-four  pounds, 
and  twenty-four  inches  long.  The  time  for  escape  was 
fixed  for  the  first  Sunday  in  November.  Bran  went  out 
at  the  breakfast  hour,  broke  the  bars,  took  off  the  planks, 
pulled  out  some  stones,  then  replaced  it  all  again,  until 
dinner  time,  when  Bartley,  Bran,  Minnis,  and  two  other 
slaves,  escaped,  and  had  been  gone  an  hour  before  it 
was  known.  Two  of  them  I  heard  nothing  from,  but 
Bartley  escaped,  Minnis  went  back  to  his  mistress,  and 
Bran  wrote,  soon  after,  that  he  was  earning  a  dollar 
and  a  half  a  day,  smoking  Spanish  cigars  at  night,  and 
no  master  to  thank  for  it  all. 

After  they  were  gone,  Kichard  secured  two  of  the 
bars  from  the  wall,  and  hid  them  in  the  stove-pipe  pro 
jecting  from  our  window,  so  that  if  we  should  need 
them  when  our  turn  came  to  try  and  escape,  they  would 
be  on  hand.  Very  soon  we  made  an  attempt  to  break 


52  HOW  "THE   WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

jail.  Night  fell,  we  commenced.  It  was  Tuesday 
night,  and  Eichard  was  to  be  executed  on  Friday.  All 
night  we  labored,  sometimes  together,  sometimes  sepa 
rately,  standing  on  stools,  the  heavy  irons  on  my 
ankles  cutting  cruelly  into  the  flesh;  but  five  o'clock 
struck,  morning  had  come,  and  found  us  still  there. 
"  Death  struck,  I  ceased  the  tide  to  stem." 

Eichard  fell  despairingly  upon  the  floor.  "Oh! 
I'm  a  dead  man!" 

My  hands,  in  the  palms,  were  worn  deep  into  the 
flesh,  and  bleeding;  my  beard  was  filled  with  dry  lime 
mortar ;  my  hair  like  the  brush  of  a  sweep.  I  was  a 
frightful  sight.  When  the  jailor  came  in,  he  looked 
around  in  amazement. 

"Who  did  this?" 

"Dick  and  I." 

"I'll  fix  you  for  slow  traveling,"  he  said  grimly; 
and  we  were  then  handcuffed  together,  day  and  night, 
until  a  short  time  before  Dick  was  taken  out  for  execu 
tion.  His  peace  was  fully  made  with  God.  The  morn 
ing  of  the  execution,  when  the  military  arrived,  and 
the  door  swung  open,  we  were  found  on  our  knees, 
commending  that  soul  to  Him  who  had  given  it,  and 
the  armed  men  stood  silent  and  awestruck  in  the  pres 
ence  of  Jehovah,  and  the  pleading  dying  man.  He 
finished  his  course  in  peace. 


MY  FIRST  IMPRISONMENT.  53 

I  had  petitioned  the  legislature  and  obtained  the 
passage  of  a  bill  giving  me  a  change  of  venue  to  Paris, 
Bourbon  county;  but  the  governor,  William  Owsley, 
having  been  petitioned  for  Miss  Webster's  release,  and 
refusing  to  grant  her  pardon  until  I  came  to  trial,  I 
waived  my  claim,  instructed  His  Excellency  not  to 
make  it  a  law  by  fixing  his  signature,  and  went  at  once 
to  trial,  pleaded  not  guilty,  selected  a  jury,  then 
changing  my  plea,  pleaded  guilty  by  Kentucky  statutes, 
and  argued  my  own  case. 

In  my  plea  to  the  jury  I  said :  "Gentlemen  of  the 
jury,  'but  for  the  grace  of  God  there  goes  John  Bun- 
yan.'  Had  I  been  born  and  educated  here,  I  might 
have  been  as  you  are.  But  thank  God  I  am  what  I 
am,  and  I  would  that  ye  all  were  as  I  am,  except  these 
bonds.  Your  Honor,  and  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  are 
you  aware  that  by  the  strict  rules  of  legal  interpre 
tation  you  have  no  legal  slavery?  that  there  is  not  a 
slave  legally  held  in  the  United  States  of  America? 
There  is  not  a  state  in  the  Union  in  which  slavery 
exists  by  positive  law." 

But  I  was  convicted,  and  my  punishment  fixed  at 
fifteen  years  in  the  Kentucky  penitentiary  at  Frankfort, 
at  hard  labor.  I  was  conveyed  there  on  the  18th  day 
of  February,  1845,  my  head  shaven  close,  I  dressed  in 
stripes  and  put  to  sawing  stone. 


CHAPTEE  VIII. 
My  Incarceration. 

CAPTAIN  NEWTON  CKAIG,  the  warden,  was  very 
considerate  of  me,  treated  roe  much  better  than  I 
had  expected  he  would,  giving  me  a  choice  of  labor, 
and  in  many  other  ways  treating  me  with  respect.  He 
was  a  man  of  large  self-esteem,  courted  the  regard  of 
wise  people,  thought  well  of  Yankee  excellence,  and 
therefore  bent  his  energies  to  signalize  his  magnanim 
ity  in  our  case.  I  selected  shoemaking  as  my  work, 
and  labored  at  the  trade  for  about  three  years.  But 
my  sedentary  life,  my  worry  and  dissatisfaction  with 
imprisonment,  and  the  poor  food — old,  fat,  greasy  bacon 
— and  the  bad  air  in  the  cell  where  I  slept  every  night, 
soon  undermined  my  health.  Dyspepsia  fastened  upon 
me,  and  I  was  changed  to  the  hospital  as  steward. 
Sometimes  I  went  into  the  cooper-shop,  and  sometimes 
at  other  work  favoring  proper  exercise. 

During  this  imprisonment  I  was  supplied  with 
money  by  James  Canning  Fuller,  of  New  York,  when 
ever  I  wrote  for  it,  and  after  his  death,  by  his  widow, 
Lydia  Fuller,  and  other  friends  and  relatives.  Mr. 

54 


MY  INCARCERATION.  55 

Hayden  of  Boston  had  been  active  in  enlisting  sympa 
thy  in  my  behalf,  in  and  about  Boston.  Captain  New 
ton  Craig  was  in  correspondence  with  gentlemen  and 
ladies  in  Boston  of  such  a  nature  as  to  conciliate  his 
dissatisfied  mind  and  temper,  and  promise  some  remu 
neration  to  the  parties  claiming  redress  for  the  loss  of 
their  slaves.  Benjamin  Howard,  Francis  Jackson,  and 
Ellis  Gray  Loring,  were  parties  on  each  side  to  pay  and 
receive  a  stipulated  sum — six  hundred  dollars — when 
ever  my  release  should  be  certified  to  by  myself  in 
Ohio. 

At  the  same  time  that  these  measures  were  in  con 
templation,  my  father  was  also  in  correspondence  with 
Captain  Craig,  and  securing  petitions  from  the  people 
of  Allegany  and  Wyoming  counties,  and  in  other  ways 
arranging  his  affairs  so  as  to  be  able  to  leave  home  and 
come  to  my  relief.  He  arrived  in  Frankfort  April  5th, 
1849,  leaving  my  mother  and  sisters  in  my  brother's 
care.  I  had  been  a  little  over  four  years  in  the  prison, 
and  had  won  the  respect  of  the  citizens  of  Kentucky  by 
my  prudent  behavior,  and  there  was  a  strong  sentiment 
in  favor  of  my  liberation. 

Upon  my  father's  arrival  in  Kentucky  with  large 
petitions  from  Allegany  and  Wyoming  counties,  New 
York,  he  very  easily  obtained  Governor  Crittenden's 
promise  to  grant  my  pardon  as  soon  as  a  petition  from 


56  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

Lexington  with  the  names  of  Judge  Buckner,  Common 
wealth-Attorney  Eobinson,  the  jury,  the  claimants  of 
the  slaves,  and  Hon.  Henry  Clay  could  be  secured. 
This  was  accomplished  early  in  June.  But  now  some 
thing  else  interfered.  The  question  of  emancipation 
was  to  come  before  the  people  in  the  August  election. 
The  question  was  not,  "Shall  the  constitution  be 
changed  by  convention?"  but,  whether  anti-slavery  or 
pro-slavery  men  should  sit  in  the  convention.  The 
Governor  made  the  plea  that  he  feared  my  pardon  at 
that  time  would  prejudice  the  election,  and  decided  to 
wait  until  after  the  election  was  over. 

Cholera  was  raging  at  that  time,  and  carrying  off 
the  people  in  great  numbers.  My  father  was  unaccli- 
mated,  and  Captain  Craig  and  I  urged  him  to  leave  the 
state,  to  go  home,  and  protect  himself  from  the  terrible 
epidemic.  But  no  persuasions  could  induce  him  to 
leave  me  in  my  sore  strait.  He  went  to  Lexington,  en 
larged  the  petition,  was  attacked  by  cholera,  recovered 
apparently,  relapsed,  and  died  Saturday  night,  July  7th, 
1849,  and  was  buried  by  and  among  strangers. 


o 


CHAPTEE    IX. 
Pardoned  by  Governor  John  J.  Crittenden. 

N  the  twenty-third  of  August,  1849,  after  an  impris 
onment  of  four  years,  ten  months  and  twenty-four       S 


days,  I  received  my  pardon.  All  my  savings  were 
gone,  and  I  was  somewhat  broken  in  health.  On  the 
24th  I  left  for  Madison,  Indiana,  where  I  obtained 
lodgings  with  Wright  Ray,  the  famous  slavehunter  of 
that  section.  It  was  the  first  comfortable  night's  rest 
for  near  five  years. 

In  this  chapter  I  shall  give  some  incidents  of  my 
jail  life,  before  finally  closing  its  account.  While  I 
was  in  prison,  there  sprang  up,  through  my  influence, 
and  that  of  others,  a  lively  interest  in  religion.  We 
.had  Sunday-schools  and  prayer-meetings,  and  I  often 
preached  to  the  prisoners,  and  others  who  came  in  out 
of  curiosity.  I  had  a  friend  in  a  young  Baptist  minis 
ter  in  Western  New  York — Isaac  Wade — who  came  to 
see  me,  and  soon  published  letters  stating  what  I  had 
told  him  of  our  school.  Upon  this,  Rev.  William  Buck, 
a  Baptist  minister  from  Louisville,  called  upon  me  in 
the  presence  of  Captain  Craig,  who  was  also  a  Baptist, 


58  HOW  "THE   WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

to  know  of  its  truth.  He  seemed  astonished,  and  wished 
me  to  explain  how  I  justified  myself,  being  also  a 
prisoner.  I  did  so  in  a  letter  as  follows: 

"First — Paul  preached  in  prison,  in  which  he  had 
been  confined  for  violation  of  law.  Why  not  I  ?  Second 
— The  prisoners  wanted  instruction  and  encouragement. 
Third — That  neither  the  verdict  of  men,  nor  the  limit 
ation  of  walls,  could  in  anywise  change  the  need,  power 
and  application  of  the  Gospel.  Fourth — If  a  prisoner 
may  enjoy,  he  may  also  teach  the  Gospel,  and  I  am  a 
child  of  the  King." 

Early  in  my  imprisonment,  a  very  nice,  well-formed 
boy  of  fifteen  was  sent  to  the  prison  for  stealing  a 
horse-blanket.  Captain  Craig,  confiding  in  my  integ 
rity,  and  taking  a  liking  to  the  lad,  committed  him  to 
my  keeping,  as  my  pupil,  ward,  and  room-mate.  I  took 
him,  taught  and  guided  him  for  six  months.  One  day 
Governor  William  Owsley  was  in  the  staveshop.  I 
spoke  with  him,  and  as  he  left,  I  followed  him  out,  and 
said : 

"  Governor,  if  you  can  find  cause  to  send  that  boy 
home,  you  will  confer  a  great  blessing  on  him,  his- 
mother,  the  community,  the  state,  and  the  world. 
Every  such  thing  counts.  He  has  had  lesson  enough  p 
any  longer  imprisonment  will  spoil  him." 

The  boy  was  pardoned  the  next  week. 


PARDONED  BY  GOVERNOR   CRITTENDEN.  59 

William  Driver  was  the  next  one  committed  to  my 
care,  in  the  spring  of  1849,  and  was  my  room-mate  up 
to  the  day  of  my  liberation.  When  I  left,  I  promised 
to  do  my  utmost  for  his  release,  and  wrote  a  petition 
to  Governor  Crittenden,  and  sent  it  to  the  boy's  mother, 
with  a  letter  to  this  effect: 

"  I  was  a  prisoner  with  your  son.  After  reading 
this  letter,  destroy  it,  and  don't  let  any  one  know  who 
wrote  this  petition,  but  get  the  judge,  the  common 
wealth-attorney,  the  sheriff,  and  the  jury  to  sign  it, 
then  as  many  more  as  you  can,  and  go  to  Governor 
Crittenden  with  it,  and  he  will  pardon  your  boy." 

She  followed  my  instructions,  and  in  two  weeks  her 
son  was  pardoned,  and  free.  So  ends  the  story  of  my 
first  imprisonment  and  pardon. 


CHAPTER    X. 
Among  Old  Friends. 

T  MADE  my  way  to  Cincinnati,  and  sought  out  my 
-••  old  comrades  in  the  holy  work  for  humanity 
against  oppression.  But  I  must  state  here  that  the 
extraordinary  fact  of  my  imprisonment  for  an  act  of 
charity,  the  death  of  my  father  as  a  sacrifice  to  the 
ambition  of  the  state  executive,  and  the  spleen  of  an 
inglorious  public,  had  awakened  a  desire  everywhere 
to  hear  from  my  own  lips  an  account  of  what  I  had 
suffered. 

In  Cincinnati  I  was  welcomed  by  Levi  and  Catharine 
Coffin,  William  Watson,  Henry  Boyd,  Mr.  Burnett, 
Samuel  Lewis,  S.  P.  Chase,  and  others,  and  I  found  an 
addition  to  the  "Old  Guard"— Laura  S.  Haviland.  I 
had  never  met  Mrs.  Haviland  before,  though  I  had  been 
familiar  with  her  benevolent  habits,  her  labors  of  love 
for  the  human  race,  her  impartiality  to  all  needy,  with 
out  regard  to  color,  descent,  or  sex.  Levi  and  Catharine 
Coffin  had  already  distinguished  themselves  as  real,  as 
well  as  denominational  "Friends,"  for  they  were  born 
and  brought  up  in  that  most  excellent  class  of  people 

60 


AMONG   OLD   FRIENDS.  61. 

called  "Friend-Quakers."  So  was  Laura  Haviland ;  but 
she  finally,  in  order  to  be  more  useful  to  the  human 
race,  united  with  the  "Wesleyan  Methodists,  laid  all  she 
was  and  all  she  had  upon  the  altar  for  the  elevation 
of  mankind.  She,  with  her  husband,  and  her  brother 
Harvey  Smith,  built  houses,  hired  teachers,  gave  time, 
land  and  money  to  the  poor  and  needy. 

Levi  Coffin  had  become  so  noted  as  a  friend  of  the 
slave,  that  whenever  a  fugitive  could  be  traced  into  his 
vicinity,  it  was  considered  that  his  house  was  the  re 
treat  necessary  to  be  searched.  At  one  time,  while  they 
lived  in  Indiana,  two  little  girls  were  brought  to  them 
and  were  pursued.  There  was  always  a  watch  kept,  a 
picket-guard,  and  no  unfriendly  eye  could  look  through 
the  line  without  an  alarm.  The  pickets  gave  the  sig 
nal,  and  the  girls  were  hidden  between  a  feather  bed 
and  a  mattress.  While  the  pursuers  were  watching  the 
house,  the  little  fugitives  were  so  amused  at  their  queer 
hiding-place,  that  they  giggled  and  laughed  so  loud,  it 
would  have  been  quite  dangerous  had  their  master 
come  near.  Mrs.  Coffin  had  to  scold  them  severely, 
threatening  them  with  a  stick.  The  master  with  his 
assistant  finally  came  and  asked  permission  to  look 
through  the  house,  which  they  did,  finding  nothing  of 
the  girls.  "Aunt  Katie"  was  their  pilot,  directing  them 
everywhere  through  the  house. 


62  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

"Here,  thee  has  not  seen  in  this  room.  Thee  wants 
to  look  sharp.  Is  there  any  other  place  thee  wants  to 
see?" 

After  they  had  given  up  the  hunt  in  despair,  the 
master  said: 

"I'd  like  to  know  where  all  the  niggers  go  to,  when 
they  get  to  old  Coffin's.  That  old  Quaker  must  have  an 
underground  railroad,  for  once  a  slave  gets  here,  he 
is  never  seen  again." 

Previous  to  1849,  Levi  had  been  twice  or  three 
times  burned  out,  his  home  set  on  fire  by  the  slave 
holder  or  his  emissaries,  and  he  had  now  settled  perma 
nently  in  Cincinnati. 

Salmon  P.  Chase  had  been  elected  United  States 
Senator  by  the  Ohio  legislature  of  1848-49.  As  I 
understood  the  history  of  political  affairs,  the  old 
Whig  and  Democratic  parties  were  evenly  divided. 
Mr.  Morse  (I  do  not  remember  from  what  county  he 
was  sent)  and  Dr.  Townshend  of  Loraine  county,  were 
elected  as  Free-Soilers,  and  knew  they  could  hold  both 
parties  in  their  hands.  But  being  Whigs  originally, 
they  were  really  more  in  sympathy  with  that  party. 
Several  vacancies  in  the  Ohio  judiciary  were  to  be  filled, 
and  a  United  States  senator  elected.  Townshend  and 
Morse  (being  in  harmony  with  the  Whigs)  said  to  the 
Democrats : 


AMONG   OLD  FRIENDS.  63 

"You  give  us  Salmon  P.  Chase  as  senator  in  Con 
gress,  then  we  will  give  you  the  judges." 

It  was  done,  and  Salmon  P.  Chase  became  one  of 
the  leading  spirits  of  the  Nation. 

A  revival  was  in  progress  in  the  Wesleyan  church 
,at  Cincinnati,  and  I  entered  into  the  work,  preached, 
visited,  and  put  myself  alongside  the  people,  regardless 
of  color,  position  or  race,  and  thereby  won  confidence 
in  many  timid  ones  toward  God  and  the  religion  of 
His  Son  Jesus  Christ.  After  this  I  visited  Oberlin 
and  found  many  changes.  Eev.  Asa  Mahan,  owing 
to  his  opposition  to  the  use  of  works  of  heathen 
authors  as  text  books,  and  perhaps  his  Arminiad  views, 
and  other  facts,  had  left  the  college  presidency.  At 
one  time,  his  opposition  to  the  use  of  heathen  authors 
was  so  intense  that  many  of  the  young  men  piled  their 
books  on  the  Tappan  Hall  square,  and  burned  them. 

I  next  visited  Cleveland,  giving  there  my  experi 
ences  among  the  slave-holders;  then  went  on  to  Detroit. 
At  this  place  I  met  many  heroes  in  the  anti-slavery 
struggle;  among  them  the  young  hero  George  D. 
Baptist,  an  Africo-American,  a  very  zealous  defender  of 
the  faith.  In  one  of  my  meetings,  after  I  had  spoken  to 
a  crowded  house,  he  arose,  and  said: 

"Mr.  Chairman,  we  want  money  now,  and  we  want 
it  for  Brother  Fair  bank."  Then  beckoning  to  a 


64  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

family  near  him,  he  said:  "Look  here,  Brother  Fair- 
bank,  do  you  know  this  crowd?" 

It  was  Coleman  and  his  family,  the  man  I  had  led 
through  the  woods  and  across  the  Ohio  river  in  1841. 
There  were  Coleman,  his  wife,  the  three  children  we 
had  taken  by  night  to  the  "promised  land,"  and  three 
more,  born  on  free  soil.  I  went  home  with  them, 
and  found  them  all  well  provided  for,  well  schooled  in 
letters  and  religion.  Coleman  wras  industrious  and 
frugal.  I  stayed  with  them  several  days,  and  was  much 
impressed  by  his  economy  and  prudence.  He  often 
worked  all  day  and  half  the  night,  and  in  the  years  of 
his  freedom  had  accumulated  a  handsome  little  property. 
He  owned  the  house  in  which  he  lived,  had  two  to  rent, 
and  his  home  was  the  home  of  the  minister,  and  his 
hand  full  of  supply. 

Sandusky  was  my  next  stopping-place  after  leaving 
Detroit.  I  had  been  invited  to  speak  at  Chicago,  but  I 
declined.  At  Sandusky  I  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Hon.  Mr.  Parish,  who,  being  a  prominent  lawyer  and 
having  the  courage  to  take  up  the  cause  of  the  slave, 
was  watched,  and  every  legal  or  illegal  advantage 
taken  of  him,  involving  him  in  suits  in  court  which 
quite  bankrupted  him. 

While  I  was  there,  six  fugitives  in  the  city  were 
hotly  pursued.  Father  Jennings  and  I,  with  other 


AMONG   OLD  FRIENDS.  65 

help,  induced  the  captain  of  a  small  steamer  to  take 
them  on  board  and  land  them  in  Canada.  We  also 
sent  a  competent  business  man  to  look  after  their  settle 
ment.  They  had  with  them  about  twelve  hundred 
dollars  in  gold.  How  they  got  it  I  did  not  inquire. 

Thirty  minutes  after  they  left,  the  hunters  came  on 
with  their  hired  posse,  savage  enough  for  any  barbarity, 
and  asked : 

"Have you  seen  any  niggers  about  here?" 

"Oh,  there  are  plenty  of  people  about  here.  What 
kind  of  people  are  these  niggers  you  want  to  find? 
There  are  white  niggers,  black  niggers,  and  yellow 
niggers, — all  kinds,  about  here." 

"Well,  there  are  six  niggers  of  mine  about  town 
somewhere,  and  I  reckoned  they  would  come  here  to 
take  a  boat." 

"  Oh,  there  were  a  man,  his  wife  and  four  children, 
two  boys  and  two  girls,  all  quite  light-colored,  here 
about  thirty  minutes  ago.  I  think  they  must  be  the 
persons  you  want ;  and  if  you  can  hire  a  skiff  or  a  fast 
boat,  or  if  you  can  run  on  the  water,  you  might  over 
take  them.  Do  you  see  that  boat  yonder  on  the  lake  ? 
There  they  go,  and  I  think  they  are  out  of  your  reach, 
and  will  soon  be  safe  in  Canada." 

Father  Jennings  smiled  triumphantly,  and  the  dis- 

5 


66  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

appointed,  enraged  hunter,  cursed  and  threatened  until 
I  said : 

"Do  you  see  that  stone  palace  up  there?"  pointing 
to  a  building  in  the  distance.  "That  is  the  jail  and 
you'd  better  be  careful  what  you  do  and  say."  And 
he  had  the  wisdom  to  take  his  leave. 

At  Buffalo  I  became  acquainted  with  Abner  H. 
Francis,  who  was  at  some  time  near  that  date  the 
Liberty  party  candidate  for  vice-president,  James  G. 
Birney  being  the  candidate  for  president. 

I  next  visited  my  mother  and  family,  whom  my 
father  had  removed  to  Little  Genesee,  New  York,  and 
left  in  my  brother's  care  before  he  took  his  departure 
to  Kentucky.  "For,"  said  he,  "I  may  never  return." 
Which  was  the  sad  truth.  He  did  not  return. 
Two  Anti-Slavery  Parties. 

After  a  few  days  spent  among  the  happy,  hearty, 
liberty-loving  Christians  in  grand  old  Allegany  county, 
New  York,  I  bent  my  way  to  Pike,  Wyoming  county, 
about  fifty  miles  north,  where  I  was  born.  From  there 
I  went  on  my  way  to  Boston,  stopping  a  week  to  attend 
the  convention  of  two  parties  at  Syracuse.  There  were 
in  the  North,  two  anti-slavery  parties.  The  Liberty 
party  was  under  the  lead  of  Gerrit  Smith;  the  Garri 
son  school,  or  the  American  Anti- Slavery  society,  was 
in  the  main  under  the  lead  of  William  Lloyd  Garrison, 


TWO  ANTI-SLAVERY  PARTIES.  67 

editor  of  the  "Liberator"  at  Boston,  though  it  was 
difficult  to  determine  whether  he  or  Wendell  Phillips 
did  the  most  leading.  They  held  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States  to  be  pro-slavery,  because  it  was  so 
understood  at  its  formation  in  1777;  that  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  so  interpreted  it ;  and  as  the 
constitution  itself  provided  that  the  interpretation  of 
that  court  should  fix  its  character,  it  was  really  a  part 
of  the  instrument,  and  they  refused  to  vote. 

The  Liberty  party,  led  by  Gerrit  Smith,  held  the  \ 
constitution  to  be  anti-slavery,  because  the  word  slave, 
or  involuntary  servant,  or  servitude,  could  not  be  found 
in  it;  that  "where  rights  are  infringed,  where  funda 
mental  principles  are  overthrown,  where  the  general 
system  of  the  laws  is  departed  from,  the  legislative  in 
tention  must  be  expressed  with  irresistible  clearness,  in 
order  to  induce  a  court  of  justice  to  suppose  a  design 
to  effect  such  object."  There  being  no  such  expression 
in  the  instrument,  the  words  "All  other  persons,"  and 
"persons  held  to  service,  or  labor,"  could  not,  under  the 
rule  of  interpretation,  be  tortured  into  such  a  meaning; 
no  interpretation  could  make  it  pro-slavery ;  that  it  was 
clearly  and  positively  anti-slavery.  - 

Here  were  Mr.  Garrison,  Wendell  Phillips,  Stephen 
and  Abby  Kelly  Foster,  Charles  Burleigh  and  Parker 
Pillsbury  on  one  side,  and  Gerrit  Smith,  Samuel  R. 


68  flOW  ^THE    WAY"    WAS   PREPARED. 

Ward — a  black  man — an  ex-slave,  and  editor  of  "  Im 
partial  citizen"  —Fred  Douglass,  Revs.  Pryne,  Asa 
Wing,  and  James  C.  Jackson  on  the  other. 

This  was  the  most  exciting  and  instructive  conven 
tion  of  my  life;  for  while  all  acted  in  harmony  against 
the  pro-slavery  idea,  every  argument  and  art  of  learn 
ing  was  put  in  requisition  by  the  strongest,  most 
learned  and  thoroughly-read  men  and  women  in  the 
land.  And  such  earnestness!  Often  the  audience 
would  be  held  entranced  and  excited  to  the  highest 
pitch,  until  one  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Then  after 
seven  hours'  partial  rest,  the  same  auditors  would  again 
fill  the  immense  hall  at  eight  next  morning,  to  adjourn 
only  one  hour  for  dinner  and  one  hour  for  supper.  So 
through  the  first  week  of  January,  1850. 

Mr.  Garrison  and  Mr.  Smith  were  both  large- 
minded,  cultured  men.  Mr.  Garrison  was  about  six 
feet  in  height,  full  and  round  in  body,  with  a  large, 
bold,  honest  face,  and  mouth  and  eyes  finely  expressive 
of  earnest  purpose  and  determination.  His  arguments 
were  strong,  to  the  point,  and  without  any  flowery 
rhetoric.  Mr.  Pillsbury  was  of  medium  height,  of 
dark  complexion,  and  spoke  moderately  and  distinctly, 
cutting  like  an  old  kitchen  knife,  rough  and  deep.  He 
was  one  of  the  most  severe,  bitter,  sarcastic  debaters  I 
ever  knew.  Discussing  some  point,  I  said: 


TWO  ANTI-SLAVERY  PARTIES.  69 

"  You  don't  believe  in  the  Apostle  Paul." 

Said  he:  "Who  is  the  Apostle  Paul?  I'm  an 
Apostle." 

Next  day,  Samuel  E.  Ward,  the  black  orator,  editor 
and  preacher,  debating  some  point,  said: 

"The  Apostle  Paul  thinks  Christ  to  be  the  Son  of 
God.  The  Apostle  Parker  thinks  differently." 

Wendell  Phillips  was  tall  and  symmetrical,  with  a 
beautiful  face,  and  a  silver-toned  voice  in  which  he 
uttered  the  most  severe  things,  clothed  in  the  most 
fascinating  language,  quoted  the  most  learned  authors, 
and  applied  his  declarations,  whether  quoted  or  origi 
nal,  in  a  way  that,  while  they  charmed,  they  destroyed. 
However  much  people  might  differ  with  him,  or  even 
hate  him  for  his  sentiments,  his  style  and  strength  of 
argument  held  them  for  hours  together,  irresistibly 
spellbound. 

Gerrit  Smith  was  unlike  any  of  these  I  have  men 
tioned.  He  was  of  Mr.  Garrison's  height,  slightly 
corpulent,  and  had  a  florid  complexion.  He  wore  the 
finest  broadcloth  trimmed  with  gold  buttons.  He 
dressed  his  neck  in  easy  fashion,  with  a  loose,  low, 
wide  collar,  turned  down  over  a  narrow  tie  or  ribbon. 
In  his  argument  he  dealt  in  law  and  gospel,  ancient  and 
modern  lore,  enforced  with  that  ease  of  delivery,  and 
in  a  smooth,  sonorous  voice  which  made  him  one  of  the 


70  HOW  "THE   WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

first  orators  of  the  day.  To  say  that  either  Gerrit 
Smith  or  Wendell  Phillips  was  best,  would  be  to  risk  a 
good  deal.  They  were  not  alike,  and  yet  the  world 
will  wait  awhile  for  two  more  such  mighty  men  in 
speech. 

Samuel  R.  Ward  was  black,  six  and  a  half  feet  high, 
and  always  ready  in  speech;  and  Fred  Douglass  was  a 
tornado  in  a  forest. 

After  the  adjournment  of  this  convention,  wliich 
was  held  for  the  purpose  of  comparing  views,  and  con 
vincing  one  another,  I  went  to  Gerrit  Smith's  at 
Peterboro,  New  York,  a  few  miles  south  of  Utica, 
where  I  spent  a  few  days  with  pleasure  and  profit. 
While  there,  some  one  asked  him: 

"Mr.  Smith,  how  do  your  finances  come  out  this 
year?" 

"Well,"  wTas  the  characteristic  reply,  "I  have  paid 
the  Astor  debt,  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  given 
away  two  hundred  thousand,  and  am  now  two  hundred 
thousand  richer  than  last  year." 

The  Fugitive-Slave  Law. 

About  this  time,  Henry  Clay  presented  a  bill  before 
the  United  States  Senate  providing  for  the  return  of 
fugitive  slaves,  which  sifted  and  tried  the  mettle  of  the 
Nation  and  wrought  up  to  intense  heat  the  zeal  of  the 


THE  FUGITIVE-SLAVE  LAW.  71 

people  on  both  sides.  Daniel  Webster  sided  with 
the  South  and  the  Democracy  of  the  North  in  its  favor. 
On  the  7th  of  March,  1850,  in  the  United  States  Sen 
ate,  he  made  that  memorable  speech  which  killed  him 
politically,  and  finally  physically. 

Gerrit  Smith  had  made  preparations  to  address  the 
New  York  Legislature  at  Albany,  on  the  subject,  and 
soon  after  the  7th  of  March  he  went  before  the  two 
Houses  in  the  Representative  Chamber  and  delivered 
one  of  the  most  effective  and  powerful  speeches  ever 
heard  in  that  city,  against  the  measure  advocated  by 
Clay,  and  supported  by  Webster.  I  shall  never  forget 
how  he  looked  when  he  said: 

"Gentlemen,  will  you  heed  this  warning?  You 
will,  when  the  iron  pierces  your  heart." 

I  went  on  to  Boston,  in  March,  and  was  the  guest 
of  the  Haydens  for  the  season,  visiting,  at  times,  differ 
ent  parts  of  the  state,  where  I  was  invariably  received 
with  enthusiasm  by  all  unbiased  anti-slavery  people, 
and  by  many  Webster  Whigs. 

The  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  soon  took  up  Mr. 
Webster's  case,  censuring  him  by  a  handsome  majority. 
In  that  discussion  I  first  saw  Henry  Wilson.  He  was 
against  Mr.  Webster,  and  poured  out  denunciation 
against  the  "  Doughfaces  with  their  ears  and  eyes 
filled  with  cotton." 


72  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

Then  Moses  Stuart  wrote  a  pamphlet  in  justification 
of  Mr.  Webster — "Conscience  and  Constitution,"  which 
was  read  and  commented  on  throughout  the  country. 
This  called  out  from  John  G.  Whittier  the  famous 
poem — 

•"Conscience  and  Constitution." 

Scarce  had  the  solemn  Sabbath  bell 
Ceased  quivering  in  the  steeple, — 

Scarce  had  the  parson  to  his  desk 
Walked  stately  through  his  people, 

f 

When  down  the  summer-shaded  street 

A  wasted  female  figure, 
With  dusty  brow  and  naked  feet, 
Came  rushing,  wild  and  eager! 

She  saw  the  white  spire  through  the  trees, 
She  heard  the  sweet  hymn  swelling; — 

O,  pitying  Christ!  a  refuge  give 
This  poor  one  in  Thy  dwelling! 

Like  a  scared  fawn  before  the  hounds, 

Straight  up  the  aisle  she  glided, 
When  close  behind  her,  whip  in  hand, 

A  lank  hired  hunter  strided. 

She  raised  a  keen  and  bitter  cry, 
To  heaven  and  earth  appealing: — 

Were  manhood's  generous  pulses  dry? 
Had  woman's  heart  no  feeling? 


"CONSCIENCE  AND   CONSTITUTION."  73 

A  score  of  stout  hands  raised  between 

The  hunter  and  the  flying: — 
Age  clenched  his  staff,  and  maiden  eye 

Flashed  tearful,  yet  defying. 

"Who  dare  profane  this  house  and  day?" 

Cried  out  the  angry  pastor. 
"Why,  bless  your  soul!  the  wench's  a  slave; 

And  I'm  her  lord  and  master. 

"I've  law  and  Gospel  on  my  side; 

And  who  shall  dare  refuse  me  ?  " 
Down  came  the  parson,  bowing  low — 
"  My  good  sir,  pray  excuse  me! 

"  Of  course  I  own  your  right  divine 
To  work,  and  sell,  and  whip  her. 
Quick!   deacon,  drop  the  Polyglot 
Before  the  wonch,  and  trip  her." 

Plump  dropped  the  holy  tome;  and  o'er 

Its  sacred  pages  stumbling, 
Bound  hand  and  foot,  a  slave  once  more, 

The  hapless  wretch  lay  trembling. 

I  saw  the  parson  tie  the  knot, 

The  while  his  flock  addressing, 
The  scriptural  claims  of  slavery 

With  text  on  text  impressing. 

*  Although,"  said  he,  "  on  Sabbath  day 

All  secular  occupations 
Are  deadly  sins,  we  must  fulfil 
Our  moral  obligations. 


74  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

"And  this  commends  itself  as  one, 

To  every  conscience  tender; 
As  Paul  sent  back  Onesimus, 

My  Christian  friends,  we  send  her." 

Shriek  rose  on  shriek; — the  Sabbath  air 
Her  wild  cries  tore  asunder  :— 

I  listened  with  hushed  breath  to  hear 
God  answer  with  his  thunder. 

All  still — the  very  altar  cloths 

Had  smothered  down  her  shrieking, 

As  pale  she  turned  from  face  to  face, 
For  human  pity  seeking. 

"Is  this  the  end — is  this,"  I  cried, 

"The  end  of  prayer  and  preaching? 
Then  down  with  pulpit;  down  with  priest; 
And  give  us  nature's  teaching! 

"Foul  shame  and  scorn  be  on  you  all 

Who  turn  the  good  to  evil, 
And  steal  the  Bible  from  the  Lord, 
And  give  it  to  the  Devil!" 

Just  then  I  felt  the  deacon's  hand 
In  wrath  my  coat-tail  seize  on ; 

I  heard  the  priest  cry  "Infidel!"— 
The  lawyer  mutter  "Treason!  " 

And  there  upon  the  window-sill, 

O'er  which  the  white  blooms  drifted, 

The  pages  of  a  good  old  book 
The  winds  of  summer  lifted. 


"CONSCIENCE  AND   CONSTITUTION."  75 

And  there  upon  the  cherry  bough 

Above  the  casement  swinging,     . 
With  golden  bosom  to  the  sun 

The  oriole  was  singing. 

As  bird  and  flower  made  plain  of  old 

The  lesson  of  the  teacher, 
So  now  I  heard  God's  written  word 

Interpreted  by  nature. 

I  woke;  and  lo,  the  fitting  cause 
Of  all  my  dreams'  vagaries: — 
Two  bulky  pamphlets:  Webster's  text, 
And  Stuart's  Commentaries. 


This  poem  was  hawked  about  everywhere  by  all 
the  newsboys,  hung  in  all  the  news  windows,  distributed 
and  read  at  all  the  Anti-Slavery  gatherings.  In  June 
Webster  appeared  in  the  front  porch  o£  the  Eevere 
House  in  Boston,  and  attempted  in  a  speech  to  teach 
New  England  her  constitutional  duties,  how  to  conquer 
her  prejudices, — looking  through  the  moral  and  politi 
cal  confusion  of  the  present  to  a  calm  political  future 
in  which  law  and  order  should  reign  through  the  sur 
render  of  the  distinctly  avowed  purpose  to  "protect 
life,  liberty  and  property."  And  here,  on  a  drizzling 
June  day,  he  repeated  the  lesson  delivered  on  the  7th 
of  March  in  the  United  States  Senate  Chamber, — "You 
must  conquer  your  prejudices.' 


76  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

It  was  soon  after  this  that  Mr.  Seward  offered  that 
amendment  to  the  Fugitive- Slave  Law,  supported  by 
Hale,  Chase,  Wade,  and  Tom  Benton,  and  in  the  House 
by  Mann,  Giddings,  Thad.  Stevens  and  others ;  and  Pratt 
of  Maryland  made  his  memorable  reply  mentioned  in 
a  former  chapter.  Horace  Mann  in  the  House  said: 

"  Given,  the  height  at  which  the  whip  shall  fall 
from  the  driver's  hand,  or  the  shackle  from  the  slave." 

These  became  the  watchwords  on  every  loyal 
tongue,  the  alarm  rung  on  the  ear  of  every  public 
gathering. 

Wendell  Phillips,  in  the  convention  at  Worcester, 
while  discussing  the  position  of  Moses  Stuart,  President 
at  Andover,  and  a  leader  of  the  church,  said: 

"What  is  the  Church?  It  is  a  weather-cock.  What 
is  the  pulpit?  It  is  what  the  pews  make  it." 

John  Milton  Earle,  State  Senator  from  the  Wor 
cester  district,  and  a  Quaker,  said: 

"  When  it  comes  to  that  point  —  when  we  are 
required,  not  to  merely  stand  and  see  humanity  out 
raged,  but  to  assist  in  the  outrage,  we  must  resist." 

Stephen  Foster  asked:  "But,  Milton,  thee  won't 
fight,  will  thee?" 

"Yes,  fight!  fight!  We  must  fight,  for  resistance 
to  tyrants  is  obedience  to  God." 


CHAPTER    XI. 
The  Fugitive-Slave  Law  Passed. 

infamous  act  known  as  the  Fugitive-Slave 
•**  Law  had  passed  the  United  States  Senate;  and 
coming  before  the  House  was  forced  to  its  third  read 
ing,  and  without  any  deliberation,  after  taking  its  last 
form,  by  an  evident  pre-arrangement  with  the  Speaker, 
Howell  Cobb,  was  hurried  through  upon  the  "previous 
question,"  moved  by  Hon.  M.  Thompson,  a  Democrat 
from  Erie,  Pennsylvania,  September  12th.  It  was  signed 
on  the  18th  by  President  Fillmore,  and  became  a  law 
of  the  land.  I  quote  from  Kinley's  "American  Con 
flict"  :  "When  the  bill  was  reached  in  the  Lower  House, 
Judge  Thompson,  a  Democrat  from  Erie,  Pennsylvania, 
obtained  the  floor — doubtless  by  pre-arrangement  with 
the  Speaker,  Howell  Cobb,  and  spoke  in  favor  of  the 
measure  as  just  and  necessary,  closing  by  a  demand  for 
the  'previous  question'"  ;  and  the  bill  finally  passed 
with  every  member  from  the  slave  states,  and  twenty- 
eight  Democrats  and  three  Whigs  from  the  free  states 
in  its  favor.  The  three  Whigs  from  the  free  states  were 
Samuel  A.  Elliott  of  Massachusetts,  John  L.  Taylor  of 

77 


78  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

Ohio,  and  Edward  McGaughey  of  Indiana.  In  the 
Senate  the  vote  stood  twenty-seven  for,  and  twelve 
against  it,  with  twenty- one  absentees.  The  most  infa 
mous  feature  of  this  law  was  the  law;  and  next  to  it, 
was  the  provision  that  whether  he  or  she  be  free  born, 
set  free  by  deed, — white  or  black — never  more  exalted 
and  honorable,  if  any  one  swears  to  him  or  her  as  held 
to  service  or  labor,  and  having  escaped,  there  was  no 
redress,  even  by  habeas  corpus,  in  him  or  herself. 

The  Fugitive-Slave  Law  of  1850  stood  upon  the 
books  of  the  Nation  as  the  law  of  the  land  until  1864. 
A  bill  for  its  repeal  had  passed  the  Senate,  but  failed 
in  the  House,  as  I  understand  it,  before  the  Congress 
of  1863-64— during  1863;  James  M.  Ashley  of  Toledo, 
Ohio,  voting  in  the  affirmative,  with  the  minority. 
Then  seeing  the  necessity  of  a  reconsideration — know 
ing  that,  by  a  rule  in  the  House,  he  who  moves  a  recon 
sideration  must  have  voted  with  the  majority,  obtained 
leave,  and  changed  his  vote  to  the  negative — with  the 
majority.  Then,  in  the  spring  of  1864,  moved  to 
reconsider,  and  secured  a  majority  in  favor  of  repeal; 
and  thus,  by  one  of  the  most  adroit  strokes — a  coup  de 
maitre  of  statesmanship,  wiped  out  the  foulest  blot  upon 
the  Nation's  escutcheon.  I  had  fought  this  through 
the  summer  of  1850,  and  continued  to  resist  it  after  its 
enactment  as  far  as  possible  with  any  show  of  safety. 


MARRIAGE    OF   WILLIAM  AND  ELLEN   CRAFT.         79 

William  and  Ellen  Craft  had  taken  refuge  in 
Boston  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hayden.  Mr.  Craft  was  of 
pure  blood;  Mrs.  Craft  was  just  a  dark-skinned  white 
woman,  though  of  African  extraction.  Legal  advice 
induced  the  conclusion  that  protection  on  British  soil 
was  more  secure  than  in  America.  A  meeting  of  tried 
friends  had  been  called  -  -  Wendell  Phillips,  Charles 
Sumner,  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  Henry  Wilson, 
William  Lloyd  Garrison  and  Theodore  Parker  were 
there. 

Lewis  Hayden,  unconscious  of  who  were  present, 
having  in  his  mind  only  the  rescue  of  his  friends,  rose 
and  began  to  speak  with  his  whole  soul,  and  was  just 
pouring  out  one  of  his  most  fervid  strains  of  native 
eloquence,  when,  turning  toward  another  portion  of  his 
audience,  he  saw  those  notable,  noble  men,  embodying 
the  lore  and  wisdom  of  the  Bay  State,  and  sank  into  his 
seat  abashed  and  silent.  Then  Wendell  Phillips,  fol 
lowed  in  turn  by  all  the  other  great  lights  of  the  time, 
made  the  occasion  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  in  my 
memory.  A  large  sum  of  money  was  raised,  and  it  was 
then  decided  that  at  the  house  of  Lewis  Hayden,  next 
morning,  Kev.  Theodore  Parker  would  solemnize  the 
marriage  of  William  and  Ellen  Craft. 

It  was  done ;  and  Mr.  Parker  then  taking  from  his 
pocket  a  Bible,  and  handing  it  to  Mr.  Craft,  said:  "Will- 


80  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

iam,  take  that,  and  make  it  the  man  of  your  counsel." 
Then,  drawing  a  poniard  of  fearful  length  and  propor 
tions,  and  holding  it  by  the  shining  blade,  extending 
to  him  the  hilt,  said:  "Take  this,  and  defend  your 
wife." 

The  nuptials  completed,  William  and  Ellen  took 
train  for  Halifax,  whence  they  sailed  for  England,  and 
there  remained  until  the  death  of  slavery  in  America. 
Mr.  Craft  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the  British  Govern 
ment  and  her  patronage  during  a  number  of  years, 
filling  important  missions  to  states  of  Africa;  returning 
to  the  United  States  and  his  old  home  in  Georgia  after 
the  settlement  of  peace,  and  the  question  which  kept  so 
many  pale  during  their  lives.  Since  his  return  he  has 
built  dwelling-houses  on  his  own  land  for  the  free 
people  of  his  race,  and  school-houses  for  the  education 
of  their  children. 

William  L.  Chaplin,  a  lawyer,  and  the  editor  of  a 
paper,  had,  while  at  Washington,  become  interested  in 
two  slaves,  the  body-servants  of  Toombs  and  Stephens 
of  Georgia,  and  in  obedience  to  his  sympathies  gave 
them  the  hand  of  charity  in  violation  of  law,  was 
apprehended  and  thrown  into  jail  in  Washington,  and 
his  bail  fixed  at  six  thousand  dollars.  Remembering 
them  that  are  in  bonds  as  bound  with  them,  and  how 
much  I  wanted  help  under  the  same  circumstances,  I 


FILLMORE  AND  HIS   CABINET.  81 

volunteered  my  services  and  helped  to  raise  his  bail, 
which  was  forfeited,  and  he  released.  I  returned  to 
Bolivar,  Allegany  county,  New  York,*  in  the  spring  of 
1851;  at  that  place  Rev.  Gilbert  De  LaMatyr  was 
pastor  of  the  M.  E.  Church.  I  preached  several  times 
in  his  pulpit,  and  with  his  support  was  successful  in 
securing  the  M.  E.  Church  for  my  warfare  against  the 
Fugitive-Slave  Law.  We  had  secured  the  church  from 
the  proper  authorities  for  a  week, — I  mean  six  nights 
and  days.  On  the  fourth  night  I  was  dealing  with  this 
infamous  law,  without  bringing  Mr.  Fillmore  or  his 
Cabinet  forward  as  responsible,  simply  because  I  knew 
very  well  that  that  would  stir  up  opposition,  when  an 
official  of  the  church,  now  living  at  Bolivar,  rose  and 
asked : 

"What  do  you  say  of  Fillmore  and  his  cabinet?" 

"I  have  not  come  here  to  talk  about  Fillmore  and 
his  Cabinet,  or  any  other  responsible  party,  but  about 
the  diabolical  character  and  dangerous  disposition  of 
the  law  in  question." 

"But  we  want  to  hear  about  it" 

"Well,  I  am  not  inclined  to  talk  about  it." 

*  But  you  must." 

-But  I  won't." 

"  This  is  our  house,  and  we  have  some  right  here  to 
say  what  you  shall  talk  about." 


82  HOW   ''THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

"This  is  not  your  house.  It  is  my  house  until 
Saturday  night  at  ten  o'clock,  and  I'll  not  be  fright 
ened  to  talk." 

Finally,   upon  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  De  LaMatyr, 
I  said:  "Well,  if  you  are  anxious  to  hear  my  sentiments 
on    President   Fillmore    and   his  Cabinet,   they  are  a 
brotherhood  of  thieves."     And  the  doctor  hunched  me. 
"Give  it  to  them!     I'll  stand  by  you." 
"This  Church  endorses  Fillmore  and  his  cabinet." 
"Well,  this  Church  is  a  den  of  thieves." 
Then  the  doctor  again — "Give  it  to  them!" 
"I  am  an  officer  of  this  Church,  and  I  endorse  Fill- 
more  and  his  Cabinet.' 

"  Well,  then,  you  are  one  of  the  thieves.  How  do 
you  like  that?" 

And  the  doctor  again — "Stand  up  to  them!" 
Then  the  mob — "eggs! — eggs! — eggs!"  swelled  the 
chorus,  when  about  a  dozen  gentlewomen  and  three  or 
four  gentlemen  sprang  from  their  seats  and  surrounded 
the  altar ;  and  two  or  three  gentlewomen  and  girls  who 
could  not  get  out  from  their  pews  soon  enough,  being 
obstructed  by  roughs  on  the  other  side,  sprang  right 
over  the  tops  of  the  seats  in  front  of  them,  and  even 
over  the  heads  of  their  occupants,  like  so  many  cha- 
inois,  shouting  "Come  down  here!  Comedown  here!" 
And  the  leading  spirit  among  the  heroines  shouted, 


"LIBERTY  PARTY"    CONVENTION.  83 

"  Now  throw  your  eggs  if  you  dare!"  But  I  finished 
up  my  week's  work  with  but  little  more  molestation. 

Such  was  the  public  sentiment  then;  and  such  the 
warfare  we  had  to  sustain  against  the  foes  of  impartial 
justice.  But,  in  1856,  public  sentiment  had  changed, 
and  I  received  from  these  parties  assurance  of  their 
approval  of  my  course. 

In  June  following,  we  held  a  convention  at  Friend 
ship  for  the  expression  of  our  contempt  for  the  Fugi 
tive-Slave  Law,  and  for  the  election  of  delegates  to  the 

"Liberty  Party"   Convention  at  Buffalo 

which  occurred  in  September,  1851.  At  this  convention 
were  C.  C.  Foot  of  Michigan,  J.  W.  Logan  of  Syracuse, 
New  York,  William  L.  Chaplin,  and  other  notables. 
At  the  Buffalo  convention  were  many  distinguished 
men  and  women  from  different  states.  As  important  a 
delegation  as  represented  a  constituency  was  that  from 
Illinois,  which  furnished  some  able  debaters  and  com 
mittee  men.  Mr.  Z.  Eastman  and  Kev.  Mr.  Kumley 
were  the  leading  geniuses  of  the  body. 

Gerrit  Smith  was  nominated  for  president,  and 
Charles  Durkee  of  Iowa,  for  vice-president.  This 
was  in  1851, — a  year  in  advance.  But,  before  election 
day  in  November,  1852,  I  was  booked  for  fifteen  years 
more  in  Kentucky,  nnd  political  changes  in  regard  to 


84  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

parties  had  taken  place  to  justify  the  abandonment  of 
the  "Liberty  Party"  ticket. 

Sojourner  Truth. 

I  must  not  forget  Sojourner.  I  met  her  first  at 
Worcester,  Massachusetts,  about  August  or  September, 
1850,  at  a  Woman's  Bights  convention  at  which  Lucre, 
tia  Mott  presided.  Stephen  S.  Foster  had  expressed 
some  sentiments  that  were  rather  unorthodox.  Sojourner 
was  seated  on  the  steps  to  the  desk.  A  young  grad 
uate  from  the  Andover  Theological  school  arose  and 
said: 

"  Madam  chairman,  I  should  not  be  astonished  if 
God  should  open  the  earth  and  swallow  us  all  up." 

Sojourner  rose, — tall,  gaunt,  with  her  white  kerchief 
tied  about  her  head — "Chile,  don't  be  skeered.  I 
queshen  if  de  Lord  ever  hearn  tell  on  ye." 


CHAPTER    XII. 
Second  Imprisonment. 

A  FTEE  my  liberation  in  1849,  the  great  desire  of 
J-*-  our  family  was  the  rescue  of  our  father's  body, 
which  lay  among  strangers,  far  from  any  one  who  cared 
for  him,  or  revered  and  loved  his  memory.  At  the 
time  of  my  release  the  removal  of  the  body  was  not 
admissible  for  hygienic  reasons;  but  now  it  could  be 
safely  done,  and  I  went  South  for  that  purpose.  On 
arriving  in  Cincinnati,  I  found  the  weather  too  warm 
for  such  an  undertaking,  and  was  forced  to  wait  awhile. 
Indiana  was  at  white  heat  over  a  proposed  amend 
ment  to  her  constitution,  prohibiting  persons  of  African 
descent  from  settling  in  the  state.  I  entered  the  field 
with  several  others  against  it,  took  the  river  tier  of 
counties,  was  watched  by  Kentucky,  and  often  met  her 
citizens  in  debate.  The  weather  continued  warm.  The 
Fugitive-Slave  law  was  in  force,  but  I  was  appealed  to 
to  rescue  Tamar,  a  young  mulatto  woman  doomed  to  be 
sold  on  the  block.  I  consented,  and  crossed  the  river 
by  night,  at  Louisville,  in  a  leaky,  sinking  old  skiff. 
While  Tamar,  with  a  cup  taken  for  the  purpose,  kept  the 

85 


86  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

water  below  shoe-mouth,  I,  with  a  piece  of  board  four 
feet  long  and  four  inches  wide,  propelled  the  boat  to 
the  Indiana  shore.  At  four  o'clock  next  morning, 
November  3,  1851,  we  were  speeding  on  our  way 
toward  Salem,  Indiana.  About  thirty  miles  out  my 
buggy  was  disabled  on  the  rough  roads,  which  led  to 
my  detention.  After  taking  her  to  a  place  of  safety, 
by  rail  and  on  foot,  I  returned  to  Jeffersonville,  Indiana. 
Sunday,  the  9th  of  November,  I  was  planning  that 
the  next  day  I  would  go  to  Lexington,  take  up 'my 
father's  body,  and  hasten  home  with  it.  But,  as 
was  said  of  Caesar,  "while  meditating  these  things" 
("mors  prevenit :"  idem  in  me),  I  was  attacked  and 
kidnaped  into.  Kentucky  by  A.  L.  Shotwell,  Marshals 
Ronald  and  Hamlet  of  that  state,  despite  my  protest, 
and  given  up  by  the  sheriff,  contrary  to  law,  and  lodged 
in  jail,  charged  with  the  highest  crime  known  to  the 
public  sentiment  of  Kentucky.  Every  intrigue  and 
baseness  was  put  in  requisition  to  convict  me.  My 
name  was  not  yet  known.  My  safety  greatly — almost 
entirely — depended  upon  that;  for  there  was  no  fact 
that  could  be  produced  which  could  be  used  as  legal 
evidence  against  me.  But,  my  name  known  as  an  Aboli 
tionist,  and  once  convicted  of  violation  of  the  slave  code, 
was  sufficient  to  convict  me  with  no  other  evidence  of 
fact.  That  was  soon  known.  My  friends  at  Cincinnati 


SECOND  IMPRISONMENT.  87 

took  the  alarm ;  and  Laura  S.  Haviland,  then  of  Adrian, 
Michigan,  came  to  my  relief  against  the  wishes  and 
protestations  of  nearly  all  the  others.  Dr.  Brisbane, 
Levi  Coffin  and  S.  P.  Chase  protested  strongly  that 
she  would  forfeit  her  life — that  it  was  enough  that  I 
should  fall.  But  she  was  braver  than  them  all ;  came 
— saw — conquered;  supplied  me  with  bedding,  money 
and  courage;  made  some  friends  and  returned  in 
safety.  She,  with  Levi  Coffin  of  Cincinnati  and  others 
in  Adrian  and  Detroit,  and  Mandana  Tileston  of 
Williamsburg,  Massachusetts,  stood  by  me  unto  the 
last  hour,  supplying,  encouraging,  pointing  to  a 
brighter  future,  until  the  signal-gun  at  Sumter  broke 
the  spell.  Miss  Tileston  had  left  her  New  England 
home  and  engaged  as  a  teacher  at  Oxford,  Ohio,  where 
she  remained  to  watch  across  the  border  until  day 
dawned  upon  me. 

I  had  been  kidnaped  from  Indiana.  The  high 
sheriff  of  Clark  county  had  given  me  into  the  hands  of 
irresponsible  citizens  of  Kentucky,  in  violation  of  the 
fundamental  law  of  the  land.  Had  I  been  held  in 
Indiana,  it  was  well  known  that  no  cause  could  be  found 
for  rendering  me  up  to  Kentucky.  For,  1.  If  it  had 
been  shown  that  I  had  aided  Tamar  in  Indiana,  only 
the  United  States  court  for  the  District  of  Indiana 
could  adjudicate  my  case  and  punish  me  under  the 


HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

fugitive- Slave  law  of  1850.  That  would  fine  me  one 
thousand  dollars  and  imprison  me  three  or  six  months 
(I  have  forgotten  which).  2.  But  they  knew  that  they 
could  not  do  even  that;  for  no  one  knew  who  the  girl 
was.  Even  in  the  court  at  Louisville  no  one  could 
swear  who  she  was.  If,  therefore,  I  had  been  tried  by 
a  court  of  Indiana,  I  should  have  been  discharged,  and 
neither  convicted  under  the  Fugitive-Slave  law,  nor 
sent  back. 

The  Inmates. 

In  order  to  prepare  the  reader  to  follow  me,  I  think 
best  to  show  the  ground  over  which  we  are  to  pass  and 
the  obstacles  and  helps  on  the  way.  There  were  in 
jail  Mr.  Adams,  from  New  Orleans,  charged  with  tam 
pering  with  the  United  States  mail;  Mr.  Forsyth, 
who  seemed  at  the  time  a  fast  friend  to  Adams.  I  was 
inclined  to  be  cautious  of  both.  Forsyth  was  a  rascal, 
but  smart, — of  fine  appearance,  dress  and  address, — 
and  easily  ingratiated  himself  into  favor  with  the  public ; 
and  I  soon  came  to  the  conclusion  to  avoid  exposing 
any  secrets,  however  much  I  might  need  advice,  unless 
I  could  see  beyond  any  doubt  that  it  would  enhance 
his  highest  interest  to  advance  mine.  For  I  felt  sure 
he  would  play  into  any  hands  that  would  help  him. 
There  was,  also,  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  William 


"AXES   TO    GRIND."  89 

Baker,  to  all  intents  and  purposes  white,  though  of 
African  extraction,  and  a  fugitive  slave  who  had  been 
in  Ohio  and  Indiana.  He  knew  freedom,  and  how  to  use 
it;  but  having  been  a  hand  on  a  boat,  and,  as  Moses 
did  in  his  day,  seeing  a  man  of  the  privileged  clasL 
smiting  one  of  his  own  blood,  he — did  not  quite  slay 
him,  but  hurt  him.  Another  was  John  Marshall, — a 
nice-looking,  smart-appearing  mulatto;  but  he  was  the 
quintessence  of  knavery. 

Now,  I  was  at  a  loss  what  to  do.  I  wanted  help. 
I  wrote  a  letter  to  Frederic  Douglass,  which,  in  a  nut 
shell,  said:  "I'm  in  jail  at  Louisville,  Kentucky, 
charged  with  again  aiding  my  fellowmen,  contrary  to 
law;  and  though  no  testimony  appeared  against  me  in 
the  police  court,  and  though  kidnaped  into  Kentucky 
contrary  to  law,  which  will  cast  a  fire-brand  into  this 
owl's  nest  of  despotism  that  must  by  and  by  make  the 
^ears  of  this  Nation  tingle,  I  am  in  danger." 

Forsyth,  Adams,  Baker,  Marshall  and  I  had  "axes 
to  grind."  Mine  was  dullest  of  all.  Adams  wanted 
some  one  outside  to  do  something  for  him.  Forsyth 
could  do  it  if  he  would ;  and  there  was  every  reason  to 
believe  he  would;  for  he  not  only  felt  no  kindness  for 
Kentucky,  but  real  enmity ;  and  he  and  Adams  had  been 
friends.  Forsyth' s  wife  was  there, — smart,  pretty,  and 
of  fascinating  address;  and  that  worked  in  his  favor. 


90  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

I  had  no  objection  to  putting  obstacles  in  ShotwelFs 
way  in  his  effort  to  capture  Tamar.  If  I  could  get  him 
to  send  Forsyth  on  a  wild-goose  chase  after  her,  with 
no  probability  of  finding  her,  I  would  succeed  in  crip 
pling  my  enemy,  at  any  rate. 

I  gradually  became  familiar  with  Forsyth.  I  in 
vited  him  to  my  cell,  and  soon  broke  to  him  the  idea 
that  I  might  enhance  his  interest,  and  mine,  in  one- 
enterprise  ; — lhat  he  might  induce  Shotwell,  the  claim 
ant  of  the  escaped  girl,  to  enter  bail  for  him,  and  send 
him  in  pursuit.  He  knew  enough  for  the  rest  of  it. 
So  I  said  to  him,  "Go  to  Indianapolis."  I  knew 
from  his  make  that  he  would  not  try  to  capture 
Tamar;  that  he  would  not  if  he  could;  and  he  could 
not  if  he  would.  I  also  knew  that  he  would  do  me 
no  harm. 

So  Shotwell  entered  bail  for  one  thousand  dollars, 
put  into  his  hands  two  hundred  dollars  for  expenses  and 
salary,  and  started  him  off.  Forsyth  went  to  Indian 
apolis,  told  some  of  the  people  his  mission,  pretending 
to  be  so  drunk  that  his  judgment  was  at  fault,  was 
arrested,  put  in  jail  by  some  of  Shotwell' s  friends 
there  who  had  been  instructed  to  watch  him,  sued 
out  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  was  discharged. 
That  was  the  last  of  Forsyth.  His  axe  was  ground, 
— he  had  got  out  of  Kentucky,  and  what  Shotwell  did 


"HALLELUJAH!  VM   VICTORIOUS!"  91 

about  the  one  thousand  dollar  bail  I  never  knew.  But 
Forsyth  had  the  two  hundred  dollars. 

In  a  short  time  Colonel  Buckner,  the  jailor,  came 
to  me  and  said: 

"  Bank,  your  friend  Forsyth  has  played  a  rascally 
game  on  Mr.  Shotwell.  He  went  to  Indianapolis,  told 
what  he  was  after,  gave  them  a  chance  to  slip  her  away, 
and  played  the  devil  generally;  and  Mr.  Shotwell  has 
lost  the  girl,  the  two  hundred  dollars,  and  will  have  to 
settle  for  his  bail." 

I  was  lying  on  my  back  in  my  cell,  and  springing 
up,  clapped  my  hands  and  shouted,  "  HALLELUJAH!  I'M 
VICTORIOUS  ! "  That  was  just  what  they  wanted  to  find ; 
that  was  their  thermometer  by  which  they  found  my 
moral  temperature;  and  they  were  satisfied  that  my 
choice  was  on  the  side  of  the  fugitive,  and  that  I  had 
aided  Tamar  in  her  escape. 

Next  day  there  came  out  in  one  of  the  Louisville 
papers  the  following:  "  Rev.  Calvin  Fairbank  was 
told,  the  other  day,  that  Tamar,  the  runaway  slave,  had 
gone  beyond  recovery;  that  Forsyth  had  purposely 
let  her  slip  out  of  the  way,  and  there  was  no  hope  of 
getting  her  back,  when  he  sprang  upon  his  feet  shout 
ing  * Hallelujah!  I  feel  like  shouting  victor y!^ 

Hon.  James  Speed  called  on  me  and  spent  the 
greater  part  of  a  day,  and  upon  discussing  the  situation 


92  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

— my  views  of  the  slavery  question — the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States — the  legality  of  slavery  in  any 
sense, — he  held  precisely  with  me.  Said  he: 

"  I  have  seen  the  United  States  Constitution  to  be 
anti-slavery  ever  since  I  became  a  student  of  common 
law ;  that  it  is  in  contravention  of  the  law  of  the  civil 
ized  world,  to  create  or  sustain  slavery  under  such  an 
instrument.  And  more,  as  you  say,  Mr.  Fairbank: 
there  is  not  a  state  in  the  Union  in  which  slavery  is 
established  by  positive  law,  and  that  Mr.  Pratt  well 
knew." 

This  kindly  visit,  and  such  expression  from  a  man 
standing  as  high  in  community  as  did  Mr.  Speed, 
greatly  encouraged  me,  not  only  in  my  constitutional 
doctrine,  but  in  my  sense  of  a  HIGHER  LAW  than  any 
Constitution. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 
Laura  S.  Haviland. 

HTHIS  very  estimable  woman  who  had  for  many  years 
•*•  given  her  time  and  means  for  the  promotion  of 
the  highest  interests  and  the  protection  of  the  defense 
less  of  all  classes,  and  especially  the  African  people  in 
America,  still  labored  for  my  rescue.  It  was  my  wish 
that  some  man  of  ability — that  Mr.  Chase  should 
defend  me;  and  to  feel  secure,  I  should  have  bail,  in 
order  myself  to  make  preparations  for  trial.  My  plan 
was  to  get  bail,  see  the  witnesses  from  Indiana  and 
buy  them  off,  then  go  into  trial  and  beat  Kentucky. 
Mrs.  Haviland  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  her  WOMAN'S 
LIFE  WORK,  gives  an  account  of  her  efforts  for  me. 

"  Bail  or  Break  Jail." 

I  saw  no  way  out  of  my  dilemma  but  to  break  jail 
or  get  bail.  To  go  out  by  bail  would  cost  five  thousand 
dollars.  To  break  jail  would  cost  just  fitting  keys, 
getting  them  into  the  jail,  together  with  saws,  etc.,  for 
cutting  the  bars  out  of  the  window  after  getting  out  of 
my  cell.  Baker  and  Marshall  were  to  be  let  out  of 

93 


94  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED 

jail.  I  became  responsible  for  Baker's  lawyer's  fee. 
Two  plans  lay  before  them.  First,  to  prepare  keys 
and  saw,  and  get  them  into  the  jail.  To  this  end,  I, 
with  Mike  Cronan,  a  friendly  prisoner,  who  also  had 
an  axe  to  grind,  made  a  hardwood  key  that  would  fit, 
took  an  impression  of  the  face  of  the  lock,  key-hole 
and  all,  on  a  piece  of  wet  sole-leather.  Second,  Baker 
and  Marshall  were  to  go  to  work  at  once  to  collect 
money  for  my  bail,  so  that  if  the  plan  for  jail-breaking 
should  fail,  bail  could  be  given. 

They  both  went  to  work,  Marshall  collecting  pledges 
for  money,  and  Baker  making  preparations  for  letting 
me  out,  and  at  the  same  time  collecting  money.  I 
knew  Marshall  was  very  smart,  but  dared  not  trust  him 
with  the  money ;  and  I  had  charged  Baker  to  hold  the 
papers  himself  and  collect  and  hold  all  the  money. 
The  keys  were  all  fitted  and  sent  in  by  the  brother  of 
another  prisoner  in  jail  who  had  more  of  an  axe  to 
grind  than  any  of  us.  He  had  killed  Drihaus  and 
was  to  be  hanged,  but  had  got  a  rehearing  and  a 
change  of  venue  to  Shelby  county.  His  wife  and 
brother  visited  him  often ;  and  in  one  visit,  the  turnkey 
being  absent,  passed  keys,  saws,  etc.,  to  the  doomed 
prisoner,  who  passed  them  to  me  with  a  letter  saying: 

"I  will  come  next  Saturday  night;  throw  over  into 
the  jail-yard  beef  with  strychnine  for  the  dogs,  and 


MARSHALL  PLAYS   THE  KNAVE,  95 

stand  on  the  wall  in  the  tower;  and  when  you  get  out 
into  the  yard,  I'll  let  down  a  rope  for  you." 

So  he  did.  The  dogs  all  died  but  one, — a  big  bull 
dog;  and  he,  in  spite  of  strychnine,  stood  the  storm. 
Baker  stood  on  the  wall,  until  he  saw  that  the  plan  was 
discovered,  and  that  was  in  this  way:  Colonel  Buckner, 
the  jailor,  had  gone  out  at  about  eight  p.  M.,  shut  our 
door  (I  was  then  in  the  large  room  with  Howard,  Jones, 
H.  Olover,  and  Mike  Cronan),  and  shoved  the  bolt 
outside  the  loop.  So  it  was  open.  About  eleven  p.  M., 
just  as  we  were  contemplating  our  escape — so  lucky — 
so  easy,  the  turnkey  brought  in  a  drunken  man,  and 
discovered  the  door  open,  old  Bull  vomiting  up  his 
dose,  the  other  dogs  lying  dead  in  the  yard.  So  ended 
that  plan. 

Marshall  Plays  the   Knave  and  Skips  to  Liberia. 

Marshall  surreptitiously  got  hold  of  my  letters  of 
instruction,  outwitted  the  honest  Baker,  went  to  my 
mother  in  Bolivar,  New  York,  got  all  my  portraits  and 
steel-plate  engraving,  which  cost  me  fifty  dollars,  then 
went  into  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island  and  other  New 
England  States  and  collected  an  immense  amount  of 
money.  He  married  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Bunningham, 
traveled  with  her,  representing  her  as  an  escaped  slave 
and  his  own  sister,  until  she  peremptorily  refused  to 


96  HOW   "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

be  used  in  such  a  way — to  gather  money  by  fraud; 
then  to  avoid  trouble  arising  from  his  fraud,  he  fled 
to  Liberia,  leaving  his  wife  behind.  She  had  already 
left  him.  He  subsequently  wrote  Mr.  Hay  den  and 
others  asking  leave  to  return.  But  his  request  was 
denied.  Lewis  Hay  den  had  written  to  Cincinnati, 
found  out  the  truth,  and  threatened  Marshall  with 
prosecution. 

So  now  nothing  remained  for  me  but  to  try  post 
ponement  in  order,  if  possible,  to  secure  bail ;  —  but 
I  was  obliged  to  write  to  my  friends:  "Postponement 
of  my  trial  impossible."  Lovell  H.  Rousseau,  my 
attorney,  wrote  "There  is  no  doubt  of  postponement.'' 
And  they  believed  him,  and  I  was  slaughtered. 


CHAPTEE    XIV. 
Trial  and  Conviction. 

T  WAS  in  irons ;  had  been  put  in  irons  after  the  dogs 
*  were  found  dead.  That  night  turnkey  Casenbine 
came  in  in  a  rage,  tore  about,  lifted  up  one  end  of  our 
bed,  then  the  other,  and  went  out.  All  this  time  the 
key  and  saws  were  right  under  the  middle  of  the  bed; 
and  as  soon  as  he  had  shut  the  door  behind  him,  they 
went  down  the  sewer,  and  were  never  heard  from,  that 
I  know  of.  But  I  was  kept  in  irons  until  my  trial  in 
February — the  18th,  I  think.  Mr.  Eousseau  made  an 
affidavit  setting  forth  reasons  why  I  should  be  allowed 
a  postponement.  First,  that  at  present  my  friends  dare 
not  come  to  my  defense  on  account  of  the  excitement. 
Second,  that  the  excitement  was  so  high  a  jury  could 
hardly  consider  the  case  unbiased.  Third,  there  were 
important  witnesses  who  could  not  now  be  obtained. 
But  the  commonwealth  attorney,  Nathaniel  Wolfe,  re 
sisted  it;  our  motion  was  overruled,  and  I  forced  into 
trial  with  no  defense, — no  argument  except  my  own. 

The  jury  was  sifted  as  closely  as  could  be.     I  per 
emptorily  rejected  twenty-four — at  any  rate,  all  the  law 

••  97 


98  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

allowed,  and  seventy-two  for  cause.  In  selecting  a 
jury,  two  teachers,  one  of  music  and  the  other  of 
letters,  were  called  upon  the  stand,  and,  giving  satisfac 
tion  of  their  ability  to  try  the  case,  were  accepted  by 
the  state.  Then  to  my  questions  "Are  you  teachers? 
What  do  you  teach?"  their  answers  were  satisfactory, 
and  I  accepted  them.  One  man,  a  slave-trader,  I  re 
jected  upon  that  ground.  One  man  whom  I  had  seen 
before  had  lived  at  Frankfort.  I  mistook  him  for  a 
former  friend,  and  accepted  him.  I  found  afterward 
that  he  voted  to  send  me  up  for  twenty  years;  but 
the  two  teachers  voted  to  send  me  for  two  years. 
Finally  they  agreed  to  add  together  all  the  time  ex 
pressed  in  all  the  votes,  divide  the  product  by  twelve, 
.and  make  that  their  verdict.  They  did  so,  and  found 
their  verdict  fifteen  years. 

The  Testimony. 

Mr.  Shohvell,  the  owner,  testified  to  owning  a 
mulatto  girl  of  about  twenty-two  years: — that  he  had 
hired  her  to  Judge  Purtle;  that  she  was  about  five  feet 
in  height;  that  she  had  a  dove-colored  shawl. 

Judge  Purtle  said:  "The  girl  in  question  was  in 
my  employ;  answers  Mr.  Shotwell's  description;  was 
missed  about  nine  P.  M.,  Sunday,  November  2d.  I  had 
bought  her  a  piece  of  striped  linsey  black  and  red. 


THE   TESTIMONY.  99 

I  have  not  seen  her  or  the  cloth  since  seven  P.  M.,  Sun 
day,  November  2d." 

Gribson:  "I  saw  Mr.  Fairbank  driving  a  horse  and 
buggy,  with  a  bright  mulatto  girl  of  about  twenty 
years  old  in  the  buggy,  on  the  morning  of  November 
3d.  He  was  driving  quite  fast.  His  buggy  was  dis 
abled,  and  he  left  it  for  me  to  repair,  while  he  put  the 
girl  aboard  the  cars.  The  girl  wore  a  dove-colored 
shawl  and  had  a  white  handkerchief  marked  Mary 
Bullock." 

Senix:  "I  saw  Mr.  Fairbank  put  the  girl  described, 
on  the  cars.  She  had  a  bundle  wrapped  in  paper.  I 
tore  a  hole  in  the  paper  with  my  finger  and  saw  striped 
linsey  in  it."  < 

Now  here  was  some  fun  as  I  cross-questioned  him. 
Though  the  linsey  in  question  went  off  in  a  box,  and 
the  witness  was  not  within  eight  feet  of  anything  the 
girl  had,  he  said,  in  answer  to  my  question,  "What  is 
linsey?" 

"Why,  striped  cloth." 

"What  kind  of  cloth? — any  kind,  I  suppose." 

"Yes." 

Turning  to  Judge  Purtle  I  asked,  "Judge,  what  is 
linsey?" 

"Cotton  and  wool  mixed." 


100  HOW  "THE   WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

"Then,  your  Honor,  you  see  that  this  man  is  not 
only  a  knave,  but  a  fool." 

Again  I  asked  the  witness,  "  What  is  linsey?" 

"Why,  cotton  and  wool." 

"Who  told  you  that?" 

"  Why-    -  a  -     -  he Judge  Purtle." 

This  raised  a  laugh. 

"Well,  what  kind  of  linsey  was  it?" 

"  Striped  linsey."  (Judge  Purtle  put  into  his 
mouth  "Checked  linsey") 

I  objected  to  the  whole  of  that  testimony;  but  it 
went  down,  just  the  same. 

Then  I  called  Shotwell  and  Purtle  and  asked, 
"How  many  girls  in  this  city  answer  the  description 
you  give  of  the  girl  Tamar  and  wear  the  described 
clothing,  etc?" 

"Five  hundred,"  was  the  answer. 

Policeman  Rust:  "I  was  in  the  negro  church, 
where  Bird  Parker  preaches,  at  eight  o'clock  Sunday, 
November  2d,  and  saw  Mr.  Fairbank  there:  saw  him 
shake  hands  with  Wash  Spradley.  The  cigar  shop 
•  (calling  it  by  name)  was  burned  that  night." 

Then  sending  for  the  clerk  of  the  fire  department, 
I  proved  that  the  fire  occurred  on  the  19th  of  October, 
two  weeks  before  that. 


THE   TESTIMONY.  101 

We  rested  the  case  as  to  the  testimony.  After  Mr. 
Wolfe's  argument  I  said: 

"  May  it  please  the  Court,  Gentlemen  of  the  jury: — 
You  are  sitting  upon  the  destiny,  and  trying  the 
validity  of  inalienable  right.  And  first,  your  Honor,  I 
plead  jurisdiction  of  this  Court.  This  Court — the 
State  of  Kentucky,  has  no  jurisdiction  in  the  case.  It 
belongs  to  the  United  States  Court  for  the  District  of 
Indiana.  Second,  I  ask  the  Court  to  charge  the  jury 
that,  as  no  testimony  has  been  offered  to  show  that  the 
girl  in  question  was  the  Tamar  in  question,  no  cause  of 
action  attaches.  Then,  gentlemen,  I  have  proven  that 
there  are  five  hundred  girls  in  the  city  of  that  descrip 
tion.  So  that  I  have  five  hundred  chances  to  one,  for 
an  acquittal." 

A  letter  which  I  had  written  and  handed  the  jailor 
was  brought  into  court,  which  ran  thus: 

"  I  am  charged  with  aiding  a  slave  girl  to  escape. 
I  know  nothing  of  her.  But,  the  public  being  preju 
diced,  I  am  in  danger." 

Judge  Bullock  would  not  admit  it  as  evidence, 
until  its  authorship  could  be  proven.  I  acknowledged 
its  authorship.  But  that  was  not  satisfactory.  Some 
one  had  to  swear  to  my  manuscript,  which  Mr.  Casen- 
bine  did  without  ever  having  seen  me  write,  and  the 
letter  was  admitted  as  evidence.  And  I  was  glad  of  it, 


102  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

because  it  was  clearly  in  my  favor, — a  flat  denial  of  any 
knowledge  of  the  person  in  question.  Then  I  showed 
the  discrepancy  between  Hust's  testimony  and  that  of 
the  clerk  of  the  fire  department,  two  weeks.  But  the 
case  was  prejudged  and  I  was  convicted. 

I  was  left  in  jail  until  Saturday,  March  7th,  when, 
with  sixteen  others,  I  think,  I  was  taken  out  for  sen 
tence.  The  question  being  asked: 

"Have  any  of  you  any  reason  to  give  why  the 
sentence  of  the  law  should  not  be  passed  upon  you?" 
I  rose,  and  said,  among  other  things: 

"I  object  to  the  sentence  of  the  law  because  the 
case  does  not  come  within  the  jurisdiction  of  this  Court. 
This  case  is  one  coming  clearly  under  the  FUGITIVE- 
SLAVE  LAW  OF  EIGHTEEN  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY;  and 
should  be  tried  in  the  District  Court  of  the  United 
States  for  the  District  of  Indiana." 

But  my  plea  amounted  to  just  so  much  wind ;  and  I 
was  ordered  to  stand  up,  and  was  sentenced  to  be  con 
fined  in  the  JAIL  AND  PENITENTIARY  HOUSE  OF  THE 
STATE  for  the  term  of  fifteen  years  at  hard  labor! 

When  writing  of  a  letter  I  had  heedlessly  kept  on 
my  person — not  in  my  manuscript — not  over  my  own 
name,  but  "FRATER,"  I  said,  "mark  this."  Judge 
Buckner  in  January,  1845,  allowed  that  letter  to  go 
before  the  jury  as  evidence  against  Miss  Webster,  be- 


LEAVE   THE  JAIL  IN  IRONS.  103 

cause  she  was  in  my  company,  and  no  other  evidence 
could  be  found.  At  Louisville,  in  the  February  term, 
1852,  as  I  have  already  said,  Judge  Bullock  refused  a 
letter  with  my  own  name,  taken  by  the  jailor  from  my 
own  hand :  and  still,  after  I  had  said  to  the  Court  "  It 
is  my  voluntary  letter,"  he  would  not  allow  it  to  go  to 
the  jury,  as  evidence,  until  some  one  who  had  seen  me 
write  could  swear  to  my  manuscript.  That  is  the  dif 
ference  in  courts.  Law  is  an  elastic  string. 

My  bail  was  five  thousand  dollars,  and  my  friends 
in  Cincinnati  were  anxious;  but  no  one  dared  venture 
into  the  city,  or  the  state  either,  to  offer  bail  or  defend 
me  before  the  court.  So  my  cause  fell  by  default — 
without  even  an  ordinary  effort  of  an  advocate,  though 
General  Lovell  H.  Rousseau  stood  nominally  as  my 
attorney. 

On  the  9th  of  March,  1852,  I  left  the  jail  in  irons 
for  Frankfort.  On  the  8th  I  was  told  that  it  was  the 
purpose  to  iron  me  to  a  negro.  But  finding  that  that 
would  enhance  my  pride  the  plan  was  abandoned  and  I 
was  ironed  by  myself,  wearing  my  poorest  clothes, 
having  boxed  my  best  and  sent  them  home. 


CHAPTEK    XT. 
My  Reception — Craig's  Reign. 

CAPTAIN  CRAIG  was  still  in  charge,  and  having 
^  been  educated  under  pro-slavery  influences,  and 
being  a  slave-holder  himself,  he  was  constitutionally 
unfit  to  do  me  justice.  He  was  purposely  absent, 
and  I  was  locked  into  my  cell  until  his  return,  on  the 
llth,  when  I  was  summoned  to  the  chapel  before  the 
governor  and  a  large  audience  of  invited  guests — 
cursed,  misrepresented,  traduced, — to  all  of  which  I 
replied  without  modification.  This  order  was  then 
given : 

"Mr.  Davis,  take  Fairbank  to  the  hackling  house 
and  kill  him.  Don't  let  him  speak  to  any  one,  or  any 
one  to  him.  If  his  own  family, — if  his  mother  comes 
to  see  him,  he  is  not  to  speak  to  her,  or  notice  her." 

To  this  I  respectfully  replied:  "Captain  Craig,  with 
due  regard  for  your  authority  and  due  regard  for  my 
manhood,  I  beg  to  say  if  my  mother  comes  to  me  I 
shall  speak  to  her  and  submit  to  consequences." 

This,  instead  of  exciting  wrath,  excited  admiration 
for  my  pluck.  That  was  sanctified  pluck,  and  this  same 

104 


MY  RECEPTION— CRAI&S  REIGN.  105 

kind  of   pluck    protected    me    through   a  great  many 
dangerous  places  during  those  seventeen  years  of  mar 
tyrdom,    to    April  15th,  1864,   when  I  was  pardoned   ] 
by  Lieutenant-Governor  R.  T.  Jacob. 

Prison  Government  and  Prison  Life. 

During  my  acquaintance  with  the  Kentucky  state 
prison,  from  February  18th,  1845,  to  August  23d, 
1849,  and  from  March  9th,  1852,  to  April  15th,  1864, 
and  the  interim  from  August  23d,  1849,  to  March  9th, 
1852,  it  passed  under  the  rule  or  administration  of  four 
wardens:  Captain  Newton  Craig  assumed  the  warden- 
ship  March  1st,  1844,  and  again  in  1848,  holding  until 
1854  as  a  partner  with  the  state,  furnishing  one-third 
the  expenses,  and  sharing  one-third  the  net  results. 
Zebulon  Ward,  from  March  2d,  1854  to  1858;  at  first 
as  one-third  partner,  but  at  the  Legislature  of  1854-5 
obtained  it  as  lessee,  at  six  thousand  dollars  per  annum. 
Jeremiah  "W.  South,  with  Bowen.as  partner,  from  1858 
to  1863,  as  lessee  at  twelve  thousand  dollars.  Harry  I. 
Todd,  from  March,  1863,  at  conditions  unknown,  simply 
for  reasons  I  will  try  to  illustrate. 

South  fell  into  misfortune  in  taking  the  prison  at 
such  a  price,  just  on  the  eve  of  war.  Hemp  was  the 
staple.  The  war  cut  off  the  market.  South  was  loser. 
The  prison  was  impoverished — came  to  rags  and  huu- 


106  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

ger.  No  one  would  take  the  job  in  1862,  the  expira 
tion  of  South' s  time ;  and  South  was  allowed  to  hold  it 
a  year  free  of  cost.  He  held  it  in  this  way  until  men 
could  think — one  year;  until  the  obtuse,  untaxed,  un 
cultivated  mind  of  Kentucky  chivalry  could  grasp  the 
question  economically,  and  dig  out  of  the  conglomera 
tion.  I  do  not  mean  to  intimate,  even,  that  there  were 
no  men  of  mind  in  Kentucky  who  could  see  a  way  out 
of  the  dilemma.  There  were  some,  but  very  few.  But 
the  majority,  who  could  vote  down  every  measure  for 
improvement,  who  had  always  relied  upon  the  life  and 
energy  of  the  slave  for  their  thrift  and  independence, 
voted  down  every  measure  of  economy  for  resuscitation. 

Finally,  finding  no  other  way,  —  convinced  that 
under  Mr.  South  the  condition  of  the  prison  grew  no 
better,  the  wardenship  was  given  to  Colonel  Harry  I. 
Todd,  with  the  agreement  that  he  should  put  the  insti 
tution  into  a  good  condition,  which  he  did,  for  Ken 
tucky,  up  to  March  1,  1864. 

The  occupations  at  which  the  prisoners  were  em 
ployed  were  carpentry,  blacksmithing,  coopering,  tail 
oring,  shoemaking,  stonecutting,  and  hackling,  spinning, 
and  weaving  hemp. 

Hemp  was  really  the  staple,  and  employed  at  least 
four-fifths  of  the  men ;  and  any  branch  of  it  was  very 
destructive  to  life,  not  so  much  from  the  amount  of 


"BLACK  HOLE   OF  CALCUTTA."  107 

physical  energy  to  be  put  in  requisition,  as  the  dust 
necessarily  arising  from  the  abrasion  indispensable  to 
the  work.  Of  these  branches  the  "  hackling  house  " 
was  worst  of  all.  Here  was  the  place  where  the  hemp 
— sometimes  eight  feet  long — was  dressed  on  steel- 
toothed  hackles,  after  being  broken  from  the  stalk, 
filling  the  room  so  full  of  dust — poison  dust — that  on 
a  still  dry  day  it  was  impossible  to  distinguish  a  man 
from  a  block  of  wood,  even  in  a  window  or  door.  I 
have  seen  six  men  out  of  twenty-four  in  one  week, 
taken  to  the  hospital  from  that  "  Black  Hole  of  Cal 
cutta,"  and  die  in  another  week. 

Spinning  stood  next  in  its  destructive  effect  upon 
the  prisoner.  This  was  done  by  fastening  a  belt  about 
the  body,  with  an  eight-inch  string  attached,  to  which 
was  fastened  a  stick  with  a  notch,  called  a  drag,  which 
was  hitched  to  a  rope  running  on  pulleys  at  each  end — 
for  hemp  spun  into  warp  fifty-two  yards  long,  for 
filling,  longer  or  shorter,  to  suit  convenience.  These 
ropes  turned  the  wheels,  so  that  the  faster  the  spinner 
went  backward,  the  faster  the  wheel  turned — with  the 
dust  rising  right  under  his  nose,  and  inhaled  at  every 
breath;  and  the  thread,  if  warp  or  chain,  as  it  is  called 
— about  twice  the  size  of  wrapping  twine — cutting 
right  through  to  the  bones  of  the  hand;  and  it  must 
be  done!  If  filling — about  half  the  size  of  sheep- 


108  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

twine — sometimes  full  of  hemp  sticks — often  a  fourth, 
or  less,  or  more — half  a  stick  half  an  inch  through, 
running  into  the  spinner's  hand — KIP!  clear  to  the  bone; 
for  he  must  pull  out  his  tow  with  one  hand,  right 
under  his  mouth,  and  hold  and  regulate  the  twist  with 
the  other;  and  any  sticks  must  break,  or  break  the 
hand. 

The  weaving  shop  was  physically  more  irksome, 
though  not  so  dusty  as  spinning,  and  this  less  so  than 
hackling.  The  warp — fifty-two  yards  long — was  ready 
beamed ;  and  the  weaver  had  to  draw  in,  or  tie  in,  his 
piece,  and  weave  from  one  hundred  and  four  to  two 
hundred  and  eight  yards  per  day — by  hand, — treading 
— throwing  his  shuttle  by  a  string  attached  to  plungers, 
or  blocks,  each  side,  and  working  a  seventy-five  pound 
lathe  with  the  left  hand.  Thus  the  hemp  was  made 
into  sacking,  or  bagging  for  cotton,  for  the  New 
Orleans  market.  As  early  as  1844  a  slave's  task  at 
weaving  was  seventy-five  yards  a  day.  The  task  in  the 
prison  rested  on  the  kind  of  man,  the  price  of  hemp 
and  bagging, — contracts — really,  the  market. 


CHAPTEE  XVI. 
My  Own  Experience — Craig's  Conduct. 

DURING  my  first  imprisonment,  I  was  treated  with 
more  consideration  than  Northern  people  were 
expecting  from  Kentucky.  Captain  Craig  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Baptist  Church,  had  some  acquaintance  with 
Northern  people,  was  a  friend  of  the  Rev.  Howard 
Malcom,  a  Northern  man,  then  president  of  Georgetown 
College,  and  was  proud  to  be  called  magnanimous  by 
Northern  people. 

Upon  my  second  imprisonment,  I  found  him  inex 
orable.  I  was  sent  to  the  hackling  house,  kept  there 
four  weeks,  and  there  felt  from  the  hand  of  the  reluc 
tant  overseer,  W.  "VV.  Davis,  the  first  ten  cuts  from  a 
rawhide.  At  one  time  I  fell  upon  the  ground  floor 
for  relief,  my  face  down.  Some  one  said: 

"Mr.  Davis  is  coming." 

I  lay  still.  He  came  in,  looked,  turned,  and  went 
out.  At  another  time  I  felt  desperate.  I  ran  out, 
leaned  my  back  against  the  house,  my  face  to  the  wind, 
gasped  a  few  times  for  breath,  then  ran  to  the  hospital 
whispering : 

109 


110  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

"Chloroform!  chloroform!" 

A  few  inhalations  from  a  saturated  handkerchief — 
some  vertigo — the  spasms  ceased;  I  breathed  easy, 
and  returned  again  to  my  torture.  After  Craig's 
wrath  had  somewhat  abated,  I  was  sent  to  the  filling 
walk,  the  place  where  the  filling  was  spun  from  the 
tow  dressed  out  of  the  hemp. 

An  ordinary  task  at  that  work  required  a  walk — half 
walk  and  half  trot — of  thirteen  miles  a  day  backward. 
I  have  often  seen  the  new  spinner  with  his  ankles  so 
swollen  that  he  was  just  able  to  hobble  to  his  cell  at 
night:  sore,  tired,  hungry;  lungs  filled  with  hemp 
dust;  head  aching,  and  feverish;  hands  gashed  by 
the  thread,  and  flesh  gashed  with  the  rawhide  for  some 
trifling  mishap,  or  slight  to  avoid  what  it  purchased 
with  usury. 

I  worked  at  this  about  one  year  in  all;  sometimes 
in  the  shoe -shop,  when  the  press  was  intense  for  that 
work;  and  once  I  was  sent  to  the  cooper-shop,  where 
my  business  was  making  flour  barrels,  pork  barrels, 
cedar  pails,  wash  tubs,  etc.  While  there  Captain  Craig- 
attempted  to  vent  his  vengeance  on  Miss  Webster, 
then  in  Madison,  Indiana, — got  the  two  charges  raised 
upon  the  court  docket  at  Lexington,  Kentucky,  which 
had  been  erased  in  February,  1845;  procured  a  demand 
from  Governor  Powell  upon  which  she  was  lodged  in 


SHOT  IN  THE  BACK.  Ill 

jail  to  await  investigation.  She  sued  out  a  writ  of 
habeas  corpus.  Craig  went  clown  to  resist  the  writ. 
Miss  Webster  was  discharged.  Craig  was  defeated, 
after  large  expenditures,  in  getting  her  once  more  into 
his  power;  and  when  on  his  way  to  the  steamboat, 
going  home, — just  as  he  was  at  the  wharf,  he  was  shot 
in  the  back  by  the  mob,  the  ball  entering  at  the  left  of 
the  spinal  column,  and  lodging  against  a  bone  in  his 
right  breast,  very  nearly  taking  his  life.  When  the 
news  came  to  me,  I  was  watched  to  see  what  could  be 
made  out  of  me,  by  a  dirty,  tale-telling,  murderous 
miscreant,  Gardner,  in  alliance  with  one  John  Fought, 
the  foreman,  who  by  fear  or  flattery  suborned  others  in 
the  shop  to  testify  against  me ;  I  bowed  my  head  upon 
my  breast,  faint  with  fear  of  what  might  come  of  it  to 
me,  sighed,  and  raising  my  head,  said : 

"  Pm  sorry;  sorry  for  his  family.  He  ought  to 
have  staid  away." 

A  few  days  passed.  When  Craig  had  sufficiently 
recovered,  I  was  locked  in  the  dark  cell  for  a  few  days, 
then  brought  into  the  yard  and  tried  upon  the  testi 
mony  of  the  witnesses  referred  to,  who,  all  but  one  man 
in  the  shop,  testified  that  I  said: 

"  Pm  glad  of  it!     I  wish  they  had  killed  him!  " 

One  man  testified  to  the  simple  truth,  and  was  soon 
removed  to  the  hemp. 


112  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

During  this  summary  trial  any  attempt  on  my  part 
(never  more  humble)  to  a  defense,  to  examine  and 
cross-question  witnesses,  was  promptly  and  tyrannically 
checked.  At  one  time  I  attempted  to  point  out  a  con 
tradiction  in  the  testimony ;  but  before  I  could  make  a 
statement  so  as  to  engage  Craig's  attention,  I  was 
knocked  down,  his  heavy  hickory  cane  being  shivered 
into  tooth- picks. 

I  was  sentenced  to  receive  thirty-nine  cuts  from  the 
raw-hide  on  my  bare  back,  which — though  dealt  with  as 
much  lenity  and  consideration  as  could  be  maintained, 
by  Mr.  Ephraim  Whiteside,  the  second  keeper,  and  my 
friend,  who  knew  well  the  inside  of  the  whole  question 
and  its  animus;  who  despised  Craig  for  his  vanity, 
pride,  tyranny,  dishonesty  and  silliness — cut  into  my 
flesh  nearly  every  stroke.  I  felt  them  clear  through 
to  the  lungs  as  if  they  were  beaten  with  a  cudgel. 
While  executing  this  sentence,  Mr.  Whiteside  dealt  the 
first  two  blows  lightly,  when  Craig  promptly  stopped 
him: 

"Stop!  Mr.  Whiteside,  those  shan't  count.  They 
are  too  light.  Begin  again.  Strike  harder!" 

But  before  he  had  done  he  hit  two  of  the  thirty-nine 
cuts  across  the  waistband  of  my  pants,  and  Craig  could 
not  summon  courage  to  order  another  addition.  All 
this  injustice  grew  out  of  the  spleen  he  entertained 


THE  SCHOOL    OF  SCANDAL.  113 

toward  me  for  my  sentiments  and  my  partiality  toward 
Miss  Webster. 

Our  time  of  labor  was  from  daylight  until  dark. 
Our  bed-rooms,  cells  of  stone  and  brick,  four  and  a  half 
feet  by  seven  from  back  wall  to  door,  and  seven  feet 
high.  Our  beds,  the  straws  of  Bedlam,  or  something 
better  at  times;  and  our  bed-fellows,  swarms  of  fleas 
and  bedbugs.  Our  food  was,  in  the  main,  bacon,  and 
cornbread  mixed  with  hot  water.  At  times  we  had  beef 
soup,  beef,  potatoes,  green  corn,  etc.,  when  they  did 
not  cost  too  much.  Our  coffee  was  made  from  burnt 
rye,  in  the  same  forty-pail  kettle,  with  the  same  old 
grounds  cooked  over  and  over  for  weeks,  until  sour. 

Craig  was  very  pious,  vain,  prejudiced,  revengeful. 
He  seemed  to  think  that  the  world  owed  him  a  peculiar 
veneration  above  anybody  else, — that  wisdom  must  die 
with  him.  Every  Sunday  we  looked  for  him  in  the 
SCHOOL  OF  SCANDAL. 

He  invariably  appeared  in  the  clesk  of  the  chapel 
on  Sunday,  when  at  home  and  well,  whether  he  had 
the  chaplain's  services  or  not,  —  sometimes  in  the 
morning  and  sometimes  in  the  afternoon;  and  often 
held  us  from  two  to  four  hours  with  dissertations  on 
law,  gospel,  theology,  philosophy,  race,  and  the  "Insti 
tution."  It  made  but  little  difference  about  his  text; 


114  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

it  was  the  same  SCHOOL  of  SCANDAL  for  its  variety  and 
unlimited  scope. 

One  time  as  lie  was  dealing  out  peculiar  lessons  to 
the  prisoners,  and  aiming  at  one  of  the  distinguished 
prisoners  who  dared  to  say  what  he  wished,  the 
prisoner  said: 

"  CAPTAIN,  YOU  ARE  TOO  TEDIOUS." 

"Well,  Thompson,  I  don't  know  but  I  am:"  and 
closed  at  the  end  of  three  hours. 

At  one  time  Mr.  Waller,  prison  clerk,  attended  a 
lecture  by  special  request;  and  having  planned  to  take 
a  train  at  a  given  hour,  rose  and  said: 

"Captain,  I  must  go.  It  is  my  train  time."  Craig 
liad  then  talked  three  hours;  and  held  on  two  more 
after  Mr.  Waller  left,  making  a  lecture  of  five  hours. 

Invariably  he  poured  his  invective  and  tirades  upon 
me  over  Northern  Abolitionists'  backs  in  his  Sunday 
lectures  until  I  became  entirely  disgusted;  and  to  such 
an  extent  that  I  had  but  little  to  choose  between  them 
and  the  result  of  contempt.  On  one  Sunday  of  his 
last  winter,  he  had  been  dealing  out  his  wisdom  for  two 
hours,  when,  becoming  tired  of  it,  I  took  shelter  behind 
a  pillar  in  the  room,  and  with  my  back  toward  him 
and  against  the  pillar,  was  quite  absorbed  in  the  senti 
ments  of  a  Christian  philosopher,  when 

"Fairbank!"  broke  my  thread  of  thought. 


PUNISHMENT  ESCAPED.  115 

"  Sir?  " 
•    "  What  are  you  doing?" 

" Beading,  sir." 

"What  are  you  reading  for?" 

"Because,  sir,  I  don't  want  to  lose  all  my  time 
here." 

"  But,  ain't  I  talking  to  you?" 

"  Yes,  sir,  but  I  don't  want  to  hear  you  talk." 

"What  is  the  matter,  Fairbank?" 

"  Sir,  you  abuse  me,  and  my  people." 

"I  do?  Well,  come  out  here,  and  sit  on  this  front 
seat,"  and  I  obeyed. 

"  Now,  Fairbank,  let  us  do  better." 

I  expected  that,  as  a  result  of  my  independence,  I 
would  be  locked  in  my  cell,  and  receive  a  severe  raw- 
hiding;  for  that  was  the  instrument  then  in  use  for 
inflicting  penalties;  but  for  some  reason  I  escaped  it. 

Craig  ran  for  the  keepership  before  the  Legislature 
of  1853-4,  and  was  beaten  by  Zebulon  Ward  of  Cov- 
ington.  His  time  drew  near  its  close.  He  had  no 
hope  of  votes.  Four  weeks  more,  and  Zeb.  Ward 
would  take  his  place.  No  potatoes,  no  bread.  Day 
after  day,  nothing  but  old,  fat,  yellQW  bacon.  Two 
weeks  had  passed;  and  bread  but  three  times.  Mr. 
Adams,  the  keeper,  demanded  the  task.  I  complained. 
It  was  of  no  use.  Now,  my  redress  lay  in  a  complaint 


116  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

to  the  Governor.  The  prison  committee  represented 
His  Excellency.  Kichard  Wintersmith,  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  was  a  member  of  that  committee.  He 
was  in.  I  complained.  Next  morning  the  men  in  the 
weave  shop,  working  near  me,  and  on  the  side  next  the 
yard,  shouted: 

11  Look!  look!  look!  Banks,  look!"  There  stood 
Governor  Powell,  shaking  his  finger  right  under  Craig's 
nose.  Next  morning  the  boys  from  the  shops  kept  a 
lookout.  Our  weave  shop  was  in  the  second  story,  at 
right  angles  with  the  kitchen.  As  soon  as  the  entrance 
doors  were  opened — -just  before  bell  time, — another 
shout — 

"Huzza  for  Banks!"  for  the  kitchen  was  full  of 
steam  from  HOT  COFFEE  AND  HOT  COKNBREAD. 

Craig  made  his  appearance  with  the  following: 

"  Boys,  there's  plenty  of  corn  now."  And  we  had 
plenty  for  the  remaining  two  weeks,  when  ZEBULON 
WARD  TOOK  THE  KEYS. 

This  was  March  2d,  1854.  Ward  was  a  tyrant. 
He  was  called  the  "Blood  Sucker"  of  the  county.  He 
cared  nothing  for  human  life.  Money  was  his  religion. 

Craig  had  made  his  farewell  to  the  men  assembled 
in  the  chapel.  The  Governor  and  the  officers  of  state 
were  there ;  and  in  their  presence,  he  handed  over  the 


"IF  I  KILL    YOU  ALL."  117 

great  gate  key  to  Ward,  who  made  the  following  short, 
sharp  exponent  of  the  man  and  his  administration: 

"Men,  Pm  a  man  of  few  words,  and  prompt  action. 
Do  your  duties,  or  Til  make  ye!  Go  to  your  work." 
That  fell  like  hot  shot.  That  was  what  it  was.  Next 
Sunday  we  were  called  to  the  chapel  again.  As  soon 
as  order  was  restored,  Ward  stepped  into  the  desk, 
stripped  off  his  overcoat — 

"Men,  I  understand  that  some  of  you  are  dissatis 
fied  with  my  time  of  working,  I  shall  let  no  man  hold 
a  watch  over  me.  I'll  not  allow  you  to  break  me  up. 
I  came  here  to  make  money;  and  I'm  going  to  do  it  if 
I  kill  you  all.  If  any  of  you  claim  the  ten-hour 
time  of  working,  just  get  right  up,  and  go  to  your 
cells!"  We  all  sat  still  and  smiled.  But  it  was  like 
Shakespeare's  smile — "When  I  smile,  I  murder." 


CHAPTER    XVII. 
The  Prisoners   Overworked. 

TTTABD'S  rigorous,  murderous  rule  was  announced 
'  '       and  anticipated  in  those  two  exhibitions.     What 
I  say  of  it  will  be  to  show  only  its  barbarity,  as  com 
pared  with  Craig's. 

The  common  task  at  weaving  under  Craig  was  from 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  to  one  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  of  coarse  hemp  sacking  with  two  to  two  and  a 
half  threads  or  shots  to  the  inch.  Of  this  I  could 
weave — and  did  often  weave — two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  yards  of  that  quality  in  a  day,  and  counted  the 
overplus  as  over- work  on  Saturday  night.  Every  fifty 
yards  over- work  counted  us  twenty-five  cents.  Under 
Craig  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  required,  at  most, 
thirteen  thousand  five  hundred  shots. 

Ward  required  as  his  task  two  hundred  and  eight 
yards  a  day,  with  five  shots  to  the  inch.  That  made 
the  task  twice  the  number  of  shots  to  the  yard  and 
fifty-eight  yards  more  than  under  Craig.  So  that  we 
wove  under  Craig  thirteen  thousand  five  hundred  shots, 
and  under  Ward  thirty-seven  thousand  four  hundred  and 

118 


THE  PRISONERS   OVERWORKED.  1J9 

forty.  You  see,  Craig  made  fifty  yards  apiece,  Ward 
fifty-two.  It  was  Ward's  plan  at  first  to  lease  the 
prison;  which  he  did  the  following  winter,  at  six 
thousand  dollars  per  annum,  and  made  in  the  four 
years  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  lease  system  upon  which  I  have  just  said  Mr. 
Ward  obtained  the  prison  from  the  state  through  the 
Legislature  of  1854-5  was  virtually  a  sale,  with  very 
little  difference  between  the  condition  of  the  prisoner 
and  that  of  an  actual  slave.  I  mean  that,  as  the  slave 
is  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  his  master,  there  is  no  reason 
why  he  should  not  expect  to  be  treated  with  abuse, 
only  that  such  treatment  would  militate  against  the 
highest  interest  of  the, master.  This  was  the  condition 
under  the  lease  system,  with  slight  mitigation.  The 
committee  whose  duty  was  to  look  into  and  correct  con 
ditions  in  the  prison  if  necessary,  had  the  same  power 
as  under  the  partnership  system.  But,  under  either 
system,  the  keeper,  either  in  person  or  by  his  assist 
ants,  tried  summarily,  and  punished  at  discretion.  But 
the  state  of  class  in  the  South  legimately  enters  a 
chapter  in  the  social  code  that  bars  any  person  from 
the  business  of  any  and  all  other  persons  of  the  privil 
eged  class.  Any  interference  in  any  abuses  by  the 
upper  class  is  known  to  be  cause  of  perpetual  enmity,  if 
not  of  war.  So  that  the  case  which  shall  warrant  inter- 


120  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

f  erence  must  be  one  of  extraordinary  barbarity ;  and  the 
master  and  the  keeper  could  do  about  as  they  pleased. 

I  know  the  question  arises,  How  can  a  keeper 
treat  a  prisoner  inhumanly  in  violation  of  a  law  of  pro 
hibition?  My  answer  is — First,  the  books  can't  stand 
up,  stretch  out  their  arms  and  punish,  without  prohibi 
tionists  of  pluck  behind  the  prohibitory  statutes  to 
enforce  them.  Second,  in  most  cases  the  prisoner  dare 
not  complain,  for  fear  of  oppression  as  the  result;  and 
other  prisoners  dare  not  interfere  and  report.  And  the 
deputy  keeper  must  be  of  sterner  stuff  than  most  of 
them  are  made,  to  pluck  up  courage  enough  to  expose 
his  employer  and  master  and  lose  his  place. 

At  one  time  the  legislative  cqmmittee  sent  Mr.  Ward 
for  me,  ostensibly  for  information  as  to  the  conduct  of 
the  prison:  and  on  leaving  me  to  go  before  the  com 
mittee  alone,  he  said: 

"NOW,  MIND  WHAT  YOU  SAY." 

That  I  understood  to  mean,  If  you  expose  me  I'll 
torture  you  in  return.  I  wTas  asked, 

"What  is  the  conduct  of  this  prison? — How  does 
Mr.  Ward  treat  the  prisoners?"  My  reply  was, 

"Gentlemen,  I  am  a  prisoner." 

That  was  enough,  and  I  was  dismissed.  The  com 
mittee  understood  me  to  mean  "I  dare  not  tell  the 
truth  against  Mr.  Ward." 


THE  SMACK   OF  THE  STRAP.  121 

When  I  say  that  Ward  buried  two  hundred  and 
forty  men,  out  of  three  hundred  and  ninety,  I  do  not 
mean  that  these  were  all  the  men  he  had  under  his 
charge.  They  kept  coming  in  and  going  out.  But 
three  hundred  and  ninety  was  about  the  average  there  at 
one  time  under  him,  and  three  hundred  under  Craig. 

The  previous  history  of  this  place  is  mere  pleasant 
exercise  compared  with  what  followed,  for  four  years, 
and  to  a  great  extent  up  to  1863.  Let  me  give  a  sam 
ple  of  one  day.  From  daybreak  until  dark,  men  worked 
as  for  life,  knowing  that,  when  next  day  dawned,  who 
ever  was  behind,  felt  the  utmost  of  the  strap.  Monday 
was  settlement  all  around,  unless  it  came  Saturday 
night.  If  so,  the  men  were  then  locked  into  their  cells 
all  day  Sunday.  After  Monday,  the  smack  of  that 
strap,  and  frequently  two  were  in  full  play  at  the  same 
time,  and  the  howling  of  the  victims  could  be  heard 
every  minute  of  the  day.  Men  cut  off  their  hands,  cut 
their  throats,  drank  poison,  and  in  various  other  ways 
rushed  eagerly  upon  the  gates  of  death.  Did  I?  No, 
not  I!  I  was  tasked  by  the  day,  timed  by  the  hour, 
for  two  hundred  and  eight  yards,  thirty -seven  thousand, 
four  hundred  and  forty  shots  of  the  shuttle  by  hand, 
from  May  to  October,  1854,  and  not  a  day  did  I  escape 
that  strap,  except  on  Sundays  and  011  the  Fourth  of  July ; 
and  never  less  than  twice,  and  in  most  cases  four  times 


122  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

a  day,  receiving  from  fifty-five  to  one  hundred  and 
eight  cuts  of  the  strap  on  the  bare  posterior — not  for 
disobedience  but  for  failure  to  execute  a  task  as  really 
beyond  my  reach  as  the  sun  in  the  heavens.  I  could 
never  weave  more  than  a  hundred  and  sixty -five  yards 
of  that  sacking,  and  that  was  two  thousand  and  seven 
hundred  shots;  more  than  twice  as  many  as  Craig's 
task  called  for.  Every  moment  of  my  time  in  that 
shop  under  Jack  Page,  I  was  liable  to  be  called: 

"Come  down  here!" 

It  was  the  first  thing  in  the  morning,  then  before 
noon,  then  after  noon,  and  the  last  thing  in  the  evening.. 
Sometimes  Jack  and  "Salty"  Sam  (Sam  Thompson )r 
both  well  whiskied,  would  strip  for  the  work,  and  one 
dealt  on  until  tired;  then,  puffing,  would  hand  the  strap 
over  to  the  other,  until  a  hundred  and  eight  stripes- 
seemed  to  appease  their  wrath,  the  walls  ten  feet  away 
being  spattered  with  particles  of  flesh  and  blood. 

The  year  1856  was  the  most  terrible  of  my  whole- 
life.  Ward  never  retained  any  of  my  letters  or  my 
money.  That  was  not  what  he  wanted.  He  wanted 
wealth.  At  one  time  Laura  S.  Haviland  sent  me  a 
letter,  in  which  she  wrote,  "enclosed  find  five  dollars," 
and  I  called  at  the  office  for  the  money.  The  clerk, 
turning  to  his  book,  said:  "You  haven't  anything  on 
record." 


SIXTY-FIVE  LASHES.  123 

"I  received  a  letter  from  Laura  S.  Haviland,  in 
which  she  writes,  'enclosed  find  five  dollars.' ' 

"I  don't  care;  you  haven't  anything  here." 

Turning  to  Mr.  Ward,  I  said:  "The  clerk  says  I 
haven't  anything  on  record,  and  here  is  a  letter  from 
Laura  S.  Haviland,  with  the  statement,  'five  dollars 
enclosed.' ' 

"Clerk,"  said  Mr.  Ward,  "put  that  on  record  and 
give  Fairbank  what  he  calls  for.  Laura  S.  Haviland 
is  a  Quaker,  and  won't  lie;  but  I  hate  her  as  I  do  the 
devil." 

Often  my  letters  came  when  he  felt  too  busy  to 
read  them, — too  anxious  to  get  to  his  marbles.  If  from 
Gerrit  Smith,  he  would  hand  them  to  me:  "There,  if 
you  can  read  that,  you  are  welcome  to;  I  can't." 

You  ask,  "How  did  you  sit  on  your  bench  and 
weave?"  Well,  I  was  sore,  of  course.  It  was  like 
sitting  on  boils,  or  sore  eyes.  I  used  to  bring  out  my 
blanket  and  roll  it  up  small,  or  roll  up  my  coat  and  sit 
on  it  as  on  a  saddle ;  for  weave  I  must.  Often  we  had 
to  resort  to  strategy.  At  one  time  Jack  Page  had  dealt 
me  sixty-five  lashes.  I  felt  that  I  could  not  endure 
longer,  and,  looking  up  into  the  brute's  face,  said, 

11  Look  here,  old  f el." 

"What  do  you  want?" 

"Ain't  ye  guine  to  do  something?" 


124  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

"Do  what?     I  been  doin'  my  best  this  half  hour." 

"May  be  you  have;  but  I  can't  see  it.  I  felt  some 
thing  like  musquitoes  or  gnats  about  me." 

"Well,  if  ye  don't  enjoy  that,  I  guess  I'd  better 
quit;"  and  putting  up  his  strap,  he  waddled  out. 

At  another  time  he  stood  at  the  desk,  looking  over 
the  foreman's  slate. 

"  Cleveland,  Fairbank,  and  Hall,  and  Bailey,  and  all 
the  fellers  over  thar,  are  behind;  and  I'm  guine  to 
whale  every  d d  one  of  um." 

I  took  time  by  the  fore-lock;  and  leaving  my  loom 
I  went  to  the  tool  box,  just  behind  the  desk,  and  taking 
a  hammer,  a  nail,  and  a  wrench  as  a  ruse,  I  straight 
ened  up,  and  said: 

"Mr.  Page!" 

"Well,  what  now?" 

"  Ain't  it  about  time  to  give  us  a  little  of  'Hardy's 
6es/'F"  (the  strap). 

"Don't  you  fret.     I'll  give  you  hell  plenty  soon." 

I  went  to  my  work.  He  called  and  whipped  all 
about  me,  and  left  me  out.  This  was  in  the  summer 
of  1857. 


ONE  MORE  SCENE  OF  BARBARITY.  125 

One   More  Scene   of   Mingled   Barbarity   and 
Triumph. 

This,  I  think,  was  in  November,  1856,  after  the 
summer's  ordeal  had  mainly  passed.  I  was  behind  as 
usual.  Page  came  with  the  indictment  and  trial — 

"Get  down  here!" 

I  pleaded.     It  was  of  no  use.     I  said: 

"  I  can't  make  that  task." 

" I  know  it,  d -n  ye!  I  don't  want  ye  to,  d n 

ye.     I  want  to  kill  ye !" 

I  came  down.  He  laid  on.  My  wrath  resisted 
the  pain,  greatly.  I  said  to  him, 

"  Page,  you  can't  kill  me  in  this  way." 

I  kept  count  of  the  stripes.  This,  mind  you,  was 
always  on  the  bare  posterior  muscles.  Eight  there,  in 
my  reach,  lay  the  handaxe  and  other  dangerous  weap 
ons  thirsting  to  avenge  my  wrong: — my  hand  instinc 
tively,  involuntarily  made  the  incipient  effort — again! 
—  again! — almost  clutched  the  instrument  of  death 
that  would  have  wrought  my  own  ruin.  But  there  was 
a  voice  of  wisdom  counseling  me — a  quiet,  still  small 
voice — 

"HOLD!  HOLD!  I  will  not  leavethee!  Eemember, 
there  are  faithful  men  and  women  who  are  relying  on 
thy  fidelity.  Thy  conduct  must  not  deceive  them. 
Much  of  the  future  of  this  question  depends  on  thy 


126  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

integrity.  Remember,  those  friends  in  Ohio,  New  York, 
Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  New  Hampshire  and 
Yermont  long  to  greet  thee  again.  And  that  faithful 
one,  whose  heart  is  plighted  to  thee,  waits  just  over 
the  border,  to  receive  either  thy  dead  body  as  her 
trophy,  or  thee,  just  living,  to  nurse  thee  back  to  life 
again.  COURAGE  ! — FAITH  ! ! — YICTOEY  ! ! ! " 

Then,  lost  to  torture,  bonds,  and  imprisonment, — 
lost  to  all  but  friends,  home,  National  Republican  vic 
tory  and  final  domestic  comfort,  I  lived  in  the  blessed 
near  future,  marshalled  the  hosts  of  freedom  to  the 
music  of  all  rights  for  all ;  saw  the  legions  of  despotism 
melt  away  like  frost  before  the  representatives  of  the 
American  idea,  and  lived  again  in  my  own  free  North. 
I  had  counted  sixty-five  before  passing  into  that  exalted 
state.  I  awoke;  and  the  inquisitor  was  busy  at  his 
favorite  task;  and  I  counted  sixteen  more  stripes.  I 
had  counted  eighty-one  stripes  in  all.  How  many  had 
I  lost?  How  long  had  the  brute  and  his  instrument 
been  playing  upon  me?  The  men  about  me  agreed 
in  counting  one  hundred  and  three.  So,  you  see,  I 
had  lost  twenty-two  strokes  of  the  strap,  without  reali 
zation. 

On  Mr.  Ward's  first  Sunday  in  the  prison  he  de 
clared  his  character, — the  soul  of  the  man,  which  will 
be,  beyond  the  gates,  as  to  all  characteristics,  precisely 


PLAYING   MARBLES.  127 

what  it  ?'s,  and  must  be  while  he  lives  and  after  he 
•ceases  to  live.  His  object  was  money,  mixed  with  a 
little  fun  provided  it  did  not  cost  him  too  much.  The 
Sabbath  in  the  prison  was  simply  a  play  day,  just 
apparently  conformed  to  what  law  existed  on  the  books. 
All  kinds  of  play,  social  recreation,  literary  exercises, 
athletic  indulgence,  and  religious  worship  was  free  to 
all  without  regard  to  race,  color,  or  descent.  All  rights 
for  all,  was  about  his  motto;  and  mainly,  I  think,  from 
the  tendency  of  mirthfulness.  Marbles  was  the  stan 
dard  amusement  of  the  place.  I  have  known  him  win 
all  the  tobacco  from  the  players;  then,  when  any  one 
pleaded, 

"  I  have  no  stake." 

•'Here,  I'll  give  you  a  stake." 

Then  win  it  back,  and  putting  the  men  in  line,  let 
them  march  past  him  and  give  it  all  away  to  men  whom 
he  knew  used  the  weed.  He  did  not  chew,  smoke,  or 
drink  intoxicants.  Often  the  men  would  be  formed  in 
lines,  and  two  men  stripped  for  the  race  and  running — 
the  men  shouting  as  the  minister  entered  the  yard  for 
service.  He  would  often  stand  enjoying  the  sport,  then 
to  the  chapel  to  go  through  the  farce  of  religious 
exercise. 

Zeb  Ward  was  a  free-thinker  in  some  respects, — I 
mean,  he  often  declared  that  any  man  could  "worship 


128  HOW   "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

according  to  the  dictates  of  his  conscience : — sing,  pray,, 
preach,  play  marbles,  euchre,  or  quoits.  If  you  want 
to  run,  run.  If  you  want  to  wrestle,  wrestle.  But,  when 
this  bell  rings  for  chapel, — it  makes  no  difference  who 
preaches;  whether  Jim  Morgan  or  Mr.  Norton — the 
man  who  dares  laugh  wants  to  go  to  his  cell."  He 
played  with  his  men  as  with  his  dogs.  Whipped  them 
as  a  boy  his  top  to  make  it  spin, — as  the  engineer 
crowds  on  steam  to  make  time  on  his  road.  He  enter 
tained  no  social  sympathy  which  acted  as  a  restraint 
upon  his  brutality  incited  by  acquisitiveness;  but 
played  or  whipped  as  best  enhanced  the  gratification  of. 
his  mirthfulness  or  acquisitiveness. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 
A  Speech  before  the  People  of  Kentucky. 

WAED'S  term  closed  March  1st,  1858,  and  he  was 
succeeded  by  Jeremiah  W.  South  of  Breathitt 
county,  with  Bowen  as  his  partner  They  were  both 
born  and  bred  Democrats  of  the  Southern  stripe ;  and 
upon  the  inauguration  of  the  Kebellion,  were  in  full 
sympathy  with  it.  To  illustrate  this  reign,  would  be 
only  to  illustrate  Ward's  over  again,  with  some  modi 
fication  owing  to  more  humanity  in  the  man,  less 
executiveness,  and  a  spirit  of  humanity  combined  with 
Kentucky  pluck  in  a  maiden  daughter  of  about  thirty 
years,  who  invariably  did  her  best  to  defend  me. 

Jack  Page  held  his  position  as  hemp  boss  through 
this  reign  of  five  years.  I  was  often  locked  up  on 
Sunday,  besides  my  forty  to  two  hundred  and  fifty 
stripes.  Eliza,  the  daughter,  often  made  inquiry;  and 
finding  me  locked  in  my  cell  for  failure  of  a  task  which 
she  knew  to  be  exorbitant,  demanded  the  cell-key, 
came  to  my  cell,  often  with  her  face  adorned  with  the 
jewels  of  her  sorrow  for  me,  unlocked  my  door,  saying: 

9  129 


130  HOW   "THE    WAY"    WAS   PREPARED. 

"If  Page,  or  any  one  else,  asks  you  who  let  you  out, 
tell  them  I  did." 

Thus  that  noble  Kentucky  woman,  even  a  rebel  as 
she  was,  saved  me  many  a  day  of  misery — many  a 
living  death;  for  ten  strokes  of  that  strap  inflicted  the 
pains  of  death. 

I  had  been  often  urged  to  speak — it  mattered  but 
little  on  what  subject;  but  rather  on  the  National 
question  growing  out  of  the  anti-slavery  agitation.  I 
refused,  saying,  "  You  want  my  cheese."  But  the 
Kansas  crisis  pointed,  as  I  thought,  to  war  between  the 
North  and  the  South.  So  I  selected  my  subject,  taking 
for  my  text:  "  Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation;  but  sin 
is  a  reproach  to  any  people."  "  Watchman,  what  of 
the  night?  Watchman,  what  of  the  night?"  I  then 
informed  Assistant-keeper  Sam  Thompson  of  my  readi 
ness  to  speak. 

The  time  was  fixed  for  February  14th.  This  was 
1858.  Notices  were  sent  to  the  press  at  Frankfort, 
Lexington,  Louisville  and  Bardstown,  and  brought  out 
Governor  Charles  S.  Morehead,  and  the  State  officers, 
both  Houses  of  the  Legislature,  and  citizens — ladies 
and  gentlemen  from  distant  cities  and  towns  of  Ken 
tucky.  We  had  a  full  house  of  the  elite  of  Kentucky 
and  the  yard  below  was  packed  as  at  a  presidential 


"THE    WAR  IS  INEVITABLE."  131 

inauguration.  Mr.  Whiteside  stepped  out — beckoned 
me,  and  turning  to  the  audience,  said: — 

"Your  Excellency — Ladies  and  Gentlemen: — This 
is  our  distinguished  prisoner,  Mr.  Fairbank.  You  will 
hear  him." 

Governor  Morehead  suggested  that  I  take  my  place 
in  the  double  door  which  overlooked  the  audience 
in  the  yard,  which  I  did.  I  then  delivered  a  prophecy 
of  the  war,  and  Republican  triumph,  occupying  perhaps 
an  hour,  closing  with  the  following: 

"  GOVERNOR,  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN:  '  The  war  is 
inevitable,  and  let  it  come!  I  repeat  it,  let  it  come!"1  and 
Kentucky  will  be  the  theatre ;  and  you'll  '  fight  horse- 
bridle  deep  in  blood,'  and  slavery  will  melt  away  like  a 
hoar-frost;  and  out  of  it  will  spring  a  government  of 
all  the  people,  by  all  the  people,  for  all  the  people." 

The  audience  were  electrified — swayed  like  a  mighty 
forest  in  a  wind. 

Governor  Morehead  congratulated  me,  but,  said  he, 
"Fairbank,  you  are  crazy.  The  Yankees  won't  fight." 

"Well,  Governor,  you'll  see." 

"But,  do  you  think  your  party  will  ever  come  into 
power?" 

"  Well,  we  will  try  it. 

Said  Senator  K: — "Fairbank,  you  are  crazy." 

"So  the  Governor  says." 


132  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

"  Why,  we  shall  whip  you  so  quick  it  will  make 
your  head  swim." 

"Well,  you  shall  see  what  you  shall  see.' 
Senator  John  M.  Prall:   "Well,  Fairbank,  you  hit 
the  nail  on  the  head ;  only  you  got  through  the  war  too 
soon.     It  will  last  about  four  years;  and  the  South  will 
be  whipped;  and  equal  suffrage  will  be  the  result." 

This  was  three  years  before  the  war;  it  made  an 
impression  and  won  to  the  Union  and  the  Eepublican 
party  one  of  Kentucky's  noblest  sons,  John  M.  Prall 
of  Bourbon  county. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 
The  War. 

TAURING  this  reign  John  Brown  woke  the  Govern- 
U  ment  at  Harper's  Ferry;  and  sixteen  men,  with 
that  John-the-Baptist  of  Eepublicanism  in  America, 
shook  the  whole  United  States.  That  made  my  neck 
ache;  for  Kentucky  saw  clumps  of  imaginary  men 
under  arms  in  many  a  nook — in  many  a  moon-shade. 

Then  the  signal  gun  at  Charleston  promised  a  ful 
fillment  of  my  prophecy  three  years  before;  and  the 
war  came,  and  slavery  melted  away  like  a  hoar-frost. 

Three  times,  during  the  three  years  from  February, 
1861,  to  April,  1864,  rebel  soldiers  sought  for  me,  rope 
in  hand,  to  hang  me.  Once  I  stood  in  the  kitchen  door 
with  axe  in  hand,  and  as  they  approached,  beckoned — 

"Come  on,  boys!  Come  on!  You're  not  afraid  of 
me?" 

Bragg  captured  Frankfort  October  7th,  I  think, 
without  burning  a  grain  of  powder,  and  held  it  for 
seven  weeks,  to  about  the  25th  of  November,  1862, 
during  which  time  all  communication  with  my  friends 
ceased.  During  that  time  a  company  of  Louisianians, 

133 


134  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

headed  by  a  sergeant,  came  into  the  prison  and  visited 
me  in  the  weave  shop,  not  knowing,  probably,  of  my 
identity,  and  formed  for  both  themselves  and  me  an 
agreeable  acquaintance.  The  sergeant  was  a  very 
pleasant  fellow  to  talk  with ;  and  becoming  interested 
in  me,  asked, 

"  What  are  you  in  here  for?  " 

That  was  a  sticker;  for,  at  first,  I  knew  not  how  to 
answer.  But  the  thought  struck  me,  and  I  said, 

"For  having  one  more  woman  in  my  possession  than 
the  law  allowed  me." 

"  Well,  you  go  with  us,  and  you  can  have  as  many 
women  as  you  like.  We  don't  punish  a  man  for  having 
more  than  one  wife." 

They  were  urgent  that  I  should  go  out  and  join  the 
army,  and  they  would  protect  me.  Some  days  after 
they  came  with  a  rope,  and  inquired  for  Fairbank. 

"What!  you  are  not  going  to  hang  him,  are  you?" 

"Yes,  we  are,  sure." 

"  Well,  he  works  in  this  shop  somewhere.  Ask  that 
little  engineer  up  there.  He  will  tell  you."  And  they 
went  in  that  direction. 

As  soon  as  they  were  out  of  sight  I  sprang  through 
an  open  window,  ran  to  the  carpenter  shop,  and  Mr. 
Whiteside  hustled  me  into  an  upper  room  where  he 
stowed  me  away,  and  so  saved  my  life  that  time. 


A   PROPHECY  FULFILLED.  135 

At  another  time  I  was  told  that  a  squad  of  "  Eebs  " 
was  coming  in  to  hang  me.  I  took  time  by  the  fore 
lock  and  hid  myself  for  the  day,  and  so  eluded  them. 

All  through  that  struggle  from  February,  1861,  to 
the  very  last  I  had  access  to  the  papers,  and  was 
posted  as  to  the  strength  and  location  of  the  army. 
During  the  battle  of  Bull  Eun  I  was  allowed  to  leave 
my  work  in  the  shoe-shop  and  sit  in  the  chapel,  where, 
in  company  with  my  friend  Eliza  South,  I  received  the 
printed  dispatches  of  the  work  of  slaughter.  Legisla 
ture  was  in  session  during  most  of  the  time.  Governor 
Magoffin  was  a  rebel;  and,  finding  his  efforts  to  draw 
the  state  out  of  the  Union  fruitless,  he  resigned. 

The  next  Sunday  after  the  first  Bull  Eun,  the  mem 
bers  of  the  legislature  with  many  other  gentlemen  and 
ladies  came  in  as  usual  to  see  and  hear  me.  I  was 
called  from  the  library  into  the  middle  of  the  yard, 
where  timber  was  arranged  for  building.  John  M. 
Prall  then  called  out, 

"Here,  Mr.  Fairbank, — here  is  your  pulpit.  Your 
prophecy  of  three  years  ago  is  so  far  fulfilled." 

I  took  my  place  in  the  center,  when  one  called  out, 

"Well,  Fairbank,  how  is  it  now?" 

"Good!  You  can't  say  I'm  a  prisoner  without  a 
party." 

"But,  how's  the  war?" 


136  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

"  Fine.      We  beat  you  at  Bull  Kun." 

"  How's  that?" 

Some  one  said,  "I  see  his  idea.  It  is  this:  If  we 
had  been  beaten  we  would  sue  for  terms ;  they  would 
be  accepted,  and  slavery  would  stand.  But  now  the 
Yankees  have  just  begun  to  get  mad,  and  we  will  catch 
h— 11." 

I  was  wearing  an  old  black  slouch  hat,  and  in  dress, 
as  in  manner,  felt  and  exhibited  a  legitimate  insou- 
sciance;  and  jerking  off  my  hat, — rising  in  my  shoes 
and  hurling  the  old  slouch  high  in  the  air,  I  shouted, 

"'O  generation  of  vipers!  Who  hath  warned  you 
to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come  ?  '  Yes ;  our  boys  who 
were  more  accustomed  to  Sunday-school  than  to  murder 
have  just  got  the  bark  knocked  off  their  shins,  and 
you'll  catch  Hail  Columbia!  and  a  Union  victory  would 
have  been  a  defeat.  Slavery  is  used  up.  So  I  count 
Bull  Eun  a  glorious  victory.  You  see,  'Whom  the 
gods  would  destroy  they  first  make  mad.'  Our  defeat 
will  kill  slavery.  HUZZA  FOR  BULL  EUN!  " 

Thirty-five    Thousand,    One    Hundred    and    Five 
Stripes  in  Eight  Years. 

During  Ward's  reign  from  1854  to  1858,  and  four 
years  of  South's  reign,  from  1858  to  1862,  I  suffered 


THIRTY-FIVE   THOUSAND  STRIPES.  137 

the  infliction  of  one  thousand  and  three  floggings  with 
the  strap  elsewhere  described,  averaging  thirty-five 
stripes  at  each,  making  a  total  of  thirty-five  thousand, 
one  hundred  and  five  stripes.  Sometimes  one ;  some 
times  five,  ten,  twenty,  fifty,  sixty,  one  hundred  and 
eight.  These  were  mostly  suffered  under  Ward :  and  of 
his  reign,  mostly  in  summer.  Now,  you  ask,  how  did 
did  you  keep  count?  Well,  I  could  count  most  of 
the  time, — and  the  men  in  the  shop  always  counted; 
and  when  I  failed  to  keep  count,  I  asked  the  men. 
Then,  I  marked — posted,  week  by  week — year  by  year 
the  number  of  lashes  I  endured.  Three  times  during 
South' s  reign  I  was  so  pressed  for  my  task,  that,  though 
I  was  not  flogged  as  much  as  under  Ward,  I  was  re 
duced  to  one  hundred  seventeen  and  a  half  pounds 
weight.  My  height  is  five  feet,  nine  and  a  half  inches. 
My  usual  weight  was  one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds. 
To  be  reduced  to  one  hundred  seventeen  and  a  half 
pounds  left  me  quite  frail. 

Small-pox  had  found  its  way  into  the  prison  through 
the  army  in  February,  1863.  I  found  myself  obliged  to 
report  invalid  and  risk  that  contagion  in  the  hospital. 
I  did  so,  and  was  received:  and  next  day,  by  my  own 
choice,  separated  with  the  small- pox  patients  from  the 
others,  preferring  to  risk  its  results  to  being  sent  back 
to  the  weave  shop,  by  and  by,  after  a  little  recruiteci, 


138  HOW  "THE   WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

and  there  slain.     Yery  soon  my  small-pox  hospital  had 
accumulated  seventy-five  cases. 

Now,  before  this  the  Union  Army  had  driven  out 
the  rebels.  My  brother  Daniel  from  Portage,  Ohio, 
came  in  the  One  Hundredth  Ohio  Kegiment.  It  had 
been  determined  to  let  me  out.  But,  the  general's 
heart  failed,  then  the  colonel's,  then  the  captain's. 
Finally  my  brother  came  in  with  power  to  take  me 
out.  The  governor  after  Magoffin,  had  promised,  and 
hung  fire.  At  last,  I  was  promised  next  day.  So  I  told 
my  brother, 

"I  will  go  to-morrow  noon,  if  Governor  Eobinson  is 
not  as  good  as  his  word  by  that  time." 

Next  morning  before  day,  the  bugle  sounded  for  a 
forced  march  after  Scott  and  Morgan.  My  brother 
left  with  the  army,  and  I  remained  over  a  year  longer 
—until  April  15th,  1864. 

I  remained  in  the  hospital  fifty-one  days,  as  that 
was  quarantine  time, — had  a  mild  type  of  varioloid ;  and 
came  out,  I  think  April  24th,  sound  and  strong,  with 
a  weight  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-one  pounds.  Out 
of  my  seventy-five  cases  I  lost  but  five,  and  two  of  these 
would  have  been  safe,  had  they  not  been  complicated 
with  erysipelas  and  typhoid  fever ;  and  one  of  the  other 
cases  was  fatal  from  fright.  Fright  is  worse  than 
small-pox  in  the  case. 


CHAPTEK    XX. 
Harry  I.  Todd's   Reign. 

A  MAN  of  "few  words  and  prompt  action"  assumed 
control  of  the  prison  March  1,  1863,  before  I  left 
the  hospital.  He  was  a  square,  just,  honorable  man — 
loyal  to  the  core.  In  the  fall — in  August — Thomas  E. 
Bramlette  was  elected  Governor  and  Richard  T.  Jacob 
Lieutenant-Governor.  THAT  WAS  MY  DAYLIGHT.  Jacob 
was  brother-in-law  to  Fremont — a  good  friend  to  me, 
and  believed  my  conviction  illegal.  When  assistant 
keeper  Lawler  announced  his  nomination  I  shouted — 
"HALLELUJAH  !  !  !  THAT'S  MY  DAYLIGHT  ! "  I 
well  knew  that  they  would  be  elected,  and  that  the 
first  time  Bramlette  should  be  called  away  (and  that 
would  probably  be  soon),  Jacob  would  pardon  me  as 
lieutenant  and  acting  governor  of  the  state. 

Day  began  rapidly  to  dawn  for  me.  Miss  MANDANA 
TILESTON,  to  whom  I  was  engaged  by  marriage  contract 
in  1851,  had  left  her  New  England  home  and  repaired 
to  Ohio,  where  she  could  watch  over  my  condition,  and 
if  possible  render  me  service,  and  established  a  tempo 
rary  residence  as  a  teacher  at  Oxford,  so  that  she  could 

139 


140*  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

watch  events  through  friends  in  Cincinnati,  and  Frank 
fort,  Kentucky  and  administer  to  my  comfort.  Through 
her,  in  concert  with  Levi  Coffin  of  Cincinnati,  and 
Laura  S.  Haviland,  then  of  Adrian,  Michigan,  I  was 
constantly  supplied  with  money  and  articles  of  com 
fort  during  that  whole  period  from  1852  to  April  15th, 
1864.  As  often  as  her  vacations  would  allow  her 
absence,  she  visited  me  in  prison,  strengthening  my 
heart,  supplying  my  wants,  petitioning  the  executive, 
and  by  her  open,  frank,  brave  and  simple  fidelity 
made  many  friends  among  even  the  most  inflexible 
pro-slavery  citizens.  This,  and  my  own  consistent 
inflexibility  to  principle,  had  gained  for  me  the  respect 
and  admiration  of  the  magnanimous  of  both  sides  of 
the  question.  Public  feeling  had  softened.  Kentucky 
began  to  view  me  as  a  martyr.  The  war  had  wrought 
a  vast  change  in  the  fact.  Public  sentiment  was 
entirely  in  my  favor. 

In  November,  1863,  I  was  sent  to  the  shoe-shop 
again ;  and  in  a  few  days  asked  to  go  out  at  day -break 
and  build  some  fires,  and  keep  watch  that  the  hands 
who  came  out  soon  after  and  went  onto  Todd's  farm  to 
build  a  wall,  took  nothing  surreptitiously.  Then,  for 
the  first  time,  I  was  relieved  of  task.  Todd  could  use 
the  men  as  best  conserved  his  advantage  for  a  whole 
year,  provided  he  treated  them  humanely,  and  put  the 


"WHAT   YOU  DOIN'   HERE?"  141 

prison  generally  in  good  condition;  for  it  had  been 
entirely  impoverished  under  South. 

I  had  charge  of  the  wood  and  fires  for  the  chapel, 
shoe-shop  and  tailor-shop.  Some  time  in  February, 
1864,  by  order  of  keeper  Whiteside,  I  was  piling  some 
wood  in  a  recess  between  the  harness-shop  and  shoe- 
shop,  both  being  in  the  same  room,  when  Legree  the 
Second,  Jack  Page's  brother  (Jack  had  died  of  whisky 
erysipelas),  came  in  (he  had  no  authority  in  any  but 
the  hemp-shops),  and,  after  looking  about,  shouted, 
"  What  you  doiri*  here?" 

"Piling  this  wood,  sir." 

"Well,  you  stop  it.     D'ye  hear?" 

"  I  hear,  sir,  but  I'm  ordered  to  pile  it." 

"Who  ordered  it?" 

"Mr.  Whiteside." 

"D—n  ye!  stop  it!" 

I  kept  on.  Soon  I  saw  a  stick  move  out,  and  heard 
the  familiar  curses  and  opprobrious  language. 

I  took  no  alarm  at  this.  It  was  a  common  occur 
rence.  The  next  instant  I  supposed  I  had  hit  the  stove ; 
and  that  was  a  thought  of  the  duration  of  a  flash  of 
lightning.  Then  I  knew  nothing  for  ten  minutes. 
DEAD!  But  recovering  consciousness,  What  am  I? — 
no  idea.  Where — after  recognizing  myself, — where  am 


142  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

I?  Then  a  voice,  "  He's  not  dead."  Lying  on  my  back, 
I  put  out  my  hand  and  sat  up.  But  I  was  blind. 

"  Boys,  what's  the  matter?     I  can't  see." 

A  voice:  "You  are  hurt." 

Legree:  "He  a'n't,  neither!  Let  him  alone!" 

But  the  men  led  me  to  the  water  tub,  just  the  same; 
and  upon  the  application  of  water  my  sight  was 
restored.  I  had  been  cut  over  the  left  eye,  on  the  hair 
line,  a  gash  two  inches  long,  half  on  the  scalp  and  half 
on  the  forehead,  perpendicularly,  fracturing  the  skull. 
Mr.  Whiteside  had  been  sent  for,  who  hustled  the  brute 
out  of  the  yard  on  double-quick.  But  after  a  week  he 
was  allowed  his  old  berth  upon  promise — in  fact  he  was 
ordered  not  to  even  speak  to  me  unless  I  invited  it. 
About  the  last  of  March  he  was  passing  my  loom  look 
ing  so  penitent — so  forsaken,  that  I  relented,  and  ad 
dressed  him:  "Mr.  Page,  how  do  you  do?" 

"Pretty  well,  Fairbank.  Say,  I'm  d — n  sorry  I  hit 
you  that  time." 

But  my  equilibrium  was  not  restored ;  for  I  seemed 
to  be  whirling  in  a  circle;  and  that  sensation  was  in 
tensified — aggravated  upon  every  motion  of  the  head; 
and  especially  a  motion  up  or  down.  Many  times  I 
have  been  saved  from  falling  by  an  arm  behind  me. 
In  July,  1864,  upon  the  cupola  of  the  Chicago  court 
house  the  arm  of  Rev.  Kichard  De  Baptist  saved  me  a 


IN  THE  HANDS   OF  THE   GOVERNMENT.  143 

fall  of  nearly  one  hundred  feet.  The  same  difficulty 
has  afflicted  me  until  within  less  than  a  year. 

There  were  three  parties  of  the  people :  1.  A  large 
minority  who  were  out-and-out  rebels.  2.  A  small 
minority  of  radical  loyalists.  3.  A  small  majority  of 
conservatives — who  held  to  the  side  of  safety: — loyal 
because  loyalty  was  safest. 

Kentucky  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Government. 
Public  sentiment  had  been  culminating  in  my  favor,  as 
the  people  lost  their  grasp  on  the  "  Institution." 

James  L.  Sneed  was  clerk  of  the  prison — had 
always  been  my  friend — was  organized  with  large 
humanity — was  a  conservative. 

Tobin,  an  Irishman — an  out-spoken,  moderate  rebel 
— was  friendly  with  Sneed ;  had  always  been  my  friend. 

Dr.  Rodman,  prison  physician,  had  always  main 
tained  an  unswerving  constancy  to  me — was  organized 
with  large  humanity  also;  was  conservative;  had  a  son 
in  the  Confederate  army ;  committed  himself  to  neither 
side. 

Eobert  Lawler  was  a  sub-keeper — rebel — strong 
friend  to  me. 

Ephraim  Whiteside  was  for  many  years  second 
keeper;  radically  loyal,  and  my  friend. 

Harry   I.   Todd    was    firmly — stubbornly — -uncom- 


144  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

promisingly  for  the  Union.      He  was  the  warden — kept 
his  own  advice. 

Richard  T.  Jacob,  Lieutenant-governor,  had  been 
committed  to  my  favor  for  years :  had  said  to  me  before 
the  war:  "  If  I  was  Governor  I  would  turn  you  out  to 
day."  He  was  son  of  John  I.  Jacob,  of  Louisville,  and 
son-in-law  to  Thomas  H.  Benton  of  Missouri.  So  that 
he  was  related  to,  and  inherited  good  blood. 

Above  and  beyond  all  this,  my  affianced,  Mandana 
Tileston,  at  Oxford,  Ohio,  had  been  all  these  years  wait 
ing,  watching,  pleading,  suffering, — expecting,  at  last, 
either  to  carry  away  my  dead  body,  or  carry  me  living, 
the  remainder  of  our  earth-way. 

All  these  had  been  pleading.  General  James 
Harlan  had  pledged  his  services.  But  as  many  other 
of  the  unqualified  Union  men  suddenly  and  mysteri 
ously  went  down,  so  he  went  down.  I  was  anxious  for 
Bramlette's  absence  for  a  while,  that  Jacob  might  hold 
the  helm  for  a  few  hours;  for  Bramlette  refused  to 
interfere.  I  knew  Jacob  would.  The  time  had  at  last 
arrived  when  the  people  and  the  Government  could 
see  distinctly  that  it  Avas  the  AFRICO- AMERICAN'S  War: 
— that  as  he  went,  we  went;  as  we  went,  he  went:— 
both  must  go  together. 

President  Lincoln  had  sent  General  Fry  to  Ken 
tucky  with  orders  to  enroll  all  the  African  people: — 


A   BOMB-SHELL.  145 

slave,  free, — male,  female, — old  and  young;  and  the 
men  competent  for  military  service  separately.  Gov 
ernor  Bramlette  forbade  it.  Fry  reported  to  the  Presi 
dent.  Then  was  opened  a  discussion  over  the  wires 
for  several  days.  I  watched  this  as  my  "forlorn  hope." 
Finally  the  President  telegraphed: 

"  Thomas  E.  Bramlette,  Governor  of  the  Common 
wealth  of  Kentucky,  greeting:  Come  before  me 
forthwith,  to  answer  to  charges." 

That  fell  like  a  bomb-shell  in  the  camp  of  enemies 
in  disguise.  Bramlette  was  not  long  gathering  up  his 
traps  and  heading  for  Washington. 

JACOB  WAS  GOVERNOR,  and  hastened  to  Sneed. 

"Sneed,  I'm  Governor.  This  is  Fairbank' s  day. 
I'm  going  to  turn  him  out;"  and  they  two  sent  Lawler 
to  me. 

"Fairbank,  you  are  going  out.  Did  you  know  it? 
Jacob  is  Governor,  and  will  be  up  to  see  you  at  noon. 
Put  your  best  foot  forward.  I'm  going  to  help  you." 

After  bell  for  dinner,  we  had  huddled  as  usual, 
talking  up  the  war—"  'Kah  for  Sherman!  "  "  'Bah  for 
Lee!"  and  so  clear  through  the  roll.  I  had  my  eye 
out  for  Jacob.  By  and  by — 

"How  are  you,  Fairbank?  Well,  I'm  going  to  turn 
you  out.  Sneed,  get  up  a  little  petition  to  knock  the 
blows  off  me.  I'm  going  to  turn  him  out  anyhow." 
10 


146  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

I  asked,  "  Governor,  what  shall  I  do  for  you  when 
I  get  out?" 

"Talk  about  us  like  li-l.  We've  abused  you.  You 
had  no  business  here." 


CHAPTER    XXI. 
Pardon— Reception  in  the  North. 

SO  ended,  at  last,  seventeen  years  and  four  months 
imprisonment  for  the  American  Slave. 
_  That  night  at  the  Capitol  Hotel,  with  a  mixed 
audience  of  all  colors,  races,  ranks  and  political  parties 
— with  a  ring  of  half-clad  Africo-American  children 
six  feet  deep  staring  me  in  the  face ;  with  Speed  and 
Prall,  and  Crutcher,  and  other  plucky  Union  men,  we 
gave  vent  to  our  pent-up  faith  in  airing  the  subject 
until  one  o'clock  next  morning.  At  one  time  I  heard  a 
rustling  of  silk  and  a  squeaking  of  shoes  as  an  elegant- 
appearing  lady  stepped  into  a  chair. 

"Which   is   the   nig  gar   thief?" 

"Here  I  am,  ma'am." 

"Oh,  excuse  me,  sir.  I  did  not  mean  to  insult  you, 
sir." 

"No  matter,  ma'am;  no  matter.    That's  my  name." 

Now  I  want  to  tell  a  good  story  which  properly 
belonged  anterior  to  this.  Remember,  I  told  you  that, 
on  Sunday,  February  14,  1858,  Governor  Charles  S. 
Morehead  said  to  me,  "  Fairbank,  you  are  crazy.  Do 

147 


148  HOW   "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

you  think  your  party  will  ever  come  into  power?"  At 
the  outbreak  of  the  Rebellion,  he  made  a  treasonable 
speech ;  and  was  sent  to  Fort  Warren,  in  Massachusetts 
Bay,  where  he  remained  a  year.  Upon  his  return  I 
requested  an  interview  with  him.  He  came  in. 

"Well,  Fairbank,  I  understood  you  wished  to  see 
me." 

"Yes,  I  wanted  to  ask  you  if  you  had  made  up  your 
mind  that  my  party  had  come  into  power." 

He  smiled,  and  looked  beat.  "Ah,  Fairbank,  I'm 
just  out  of  jail." 

Next  morning,  armed  with  a  pair  of  Colt's  best  from 
John  M.  Prall,  I  entered  the  cars  for  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
via  Lexington,  and  took  a  seat  quite  near  Ben  Gratz, 
a  Jew  farmer,  and  another  Kentuckian  of  his  neighbor 
hood,  when  the  following  conversation  occurred ; 

"Mr.  Gratz,  I  hear  that  Fairbank  is  to  be  pardoned.'* 

"Well, — yes,  I  heard  some  talk  this  morning  that 
he  was,  already.  All  I'd  ask  would  be  one  pop  at  him. 
I'd  shoot  him  as  soon  as  I  would  a  wolf." 

I  was  sitting  with  a  Kentucky  lady,  who  had 
volunteered  to  accompany  me  to  Cincinnati  for  my 
protection.  The  four  seats  in  our  front  were  empty. 
Drawing  my  pistol,  just  screened  from  sight  by  the 
back  of  the  front  seat,  I  asked, 

"  Ben  Gratz,  would  you  know  Fairbank  on  sight?  " 


"NOW,   BEN,   I'D    GIVE  IT   UP!"  149 

Hesitating,  he  said,  "Well — yes,  I  think  I  should." 

"Well,"  said  I,  "  here  I  am;"  showing  my  revolver 
and  resting  it  on  the  back  of  the  seat  in  our  front. 
"But  you'll  have  to  be  mighty  sharp;  for  I  think  I 
have  the  first  pop." 

Then  such  a  clapping  of  hands  and  huzzahing;  and 
—"Now,  Ben,  I'd  give  it  up!" 

And  he  did  give  it  up  handsomely;  rising  from  his 
seat,  stepping  toward  me,  with  his  hand  extended — 
"Now,  Mr.  Fairbank,  I  acknowledge  the  corn.  Let  us 
make  friends  and  call  this  a  joke." 

I  crossed  the  Ohio  that  evening  before  dark,  so 
overcome  with  joy  that,  falling  upon  my  face,  I  kissed 
the  dirt  of  my  adopted  State,  and,  rising  to  my  feet, 
and  throwing  my  hands  high  in  air,  I  shouted:  "  OUT 
OF  THE  MOUTH  OF  DEATH!"  "  OUT  OF  THE  JAWS  OF 
HELL!!" 

Twelve  years,  five  months,  and  six  days,  involun 
tarily  on  Kentucky  soil;  seventeen  years  and  four 
months  a  prisoner  since  1844.  Forty-seven  slaves 
liberated  from  hell  !  Thirty-five  thousand,  one  hun 
dred  and  five  stripes  during  eight  years  from  May  1, 
1854,  to  May  1,  1862.  Up  to  the  liberation  of  Mr. 
Hay  den  and  family,  I  had  liberated  forty-four  •  slaves. 
During  the  short  time  I  spent  in  Southern  Indiana  in 
1851,  I  liberated,  before  undertaking  the  case  of 


150  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

Tamar,  for  whose  liberation  I  was  sent  to  prison  for 
fifteen  years,  Julia  with  her  babe,  whom  I  met  in 
Windsor,  Canada,  opposite  Detroit,  in  1864,  in  excel 
lent  circumstances.  Fourteen  years  I  had  been  shut 
out  from  the  enjoyment  of  civilization;  fourteen  years 
banished  from  home,  friends,  country,  citizenship; 
fourteen  years  deprived  of  domestic  comfort,  which  in 
its  distant  imagery  cheered  me  in  my  deepest  gloom 
through  that  long  night  of  despotism.  "But  thanks 
be  to  God  who  giveth  us  the  victory"  by  faith!  His 
hand  was  under  me;  His  everlasting  arm  upheld  me. 
"Thy  rod  and  thy  staff,  they  comfort  me."  Oh,  the 
Comforter  brought  to  my  remembrance  whatsoever  he 
had  said  unto  me;  and  my  faithful  Mandana  waited, 
and  watched,  and  prayed,  and  visited  and  cheered  to 
the  very  last. 

Reception  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

I  went  directly  to  the  residence  of  Henry  Boyd, 
an  ex-fugitive  slave  who  escaped  in  his  boyhood,  and 
worked  his  way  to  competence,  as  a  mechanic — a  man 
ufacturer  of  bedsteads.  No  one  in  the  room  recognized 
me;  but  Mrs.  Adams,  the  youngest  of  the  family,  soon 
came  in,  and  immediately  solved  the  problem. 

Said  she,  "Well,  I  don't  know  who  it  is,  unless  it  is 
Calvin  Fairbank." 


RECEPTION  AT  CINCINNATI,    OHIO.  151 

I  then  went  to  Levi  Coffin's,  whom  I  found  alone, 
in  his  sitting  room.  "  Good  evening,  Levi." 

"Good  evening.  But  thee  seems  to  have  the  ad 
vantage  of  me." 

"Don't  thee  know  me,  Levi?" 

"Well,  this  can't  be  Calvin  Fairbank,  can  it?" 

Then  after  a  happy  greeting,  and  fraternal  ex 
changes,  he  went  to  the  chamber  door,  and  called  out, 

"Katie,  come  down  here.  Here  is  some  one  thee 
would  like  to  see." 

Aunt  Katie  came  down, — shook  hands,  steadily  and 
doubtfully  eyeing  me. 

"Who  art  thou?" 

"I  am  an  old  friend." 

"I  don't  know  thee." 

"Don't  thee  know  me?" 

"No,  I  dont.  Tell  me  who  thou  art."  And  away 
she  went  upstairs  again. 

But  Levi  called  her  back,  and  asked,  "  Does  not 
this  look  like  Calvin  Fairbank?" 

Then  looking  at  me  a  moment, — "No.  Thee  arn't 
Calvin  Fairbank  at  all."  And  she  wheeled  away. 

Said  I,  "See  here.  Do  you  know  I  had  lost  my 
big  toe  from  my  left  foot?" 

"Well,  well!  Sure  enough  this  is  Calvin  Fairbank." 


152  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

This  was  Saturday  night,  April  16th.  Next  morn 
ing  early,  before  daylight,  I  was  roused  by  the  matin 
bells  calling  the  votaries  of  his  Holiness  to  morning 
worship.  And,  O,  they  passed  and  the  time  passed, 
until  I  almost  concluded  that  a  new  order  of  things  had 
been  inaugurated  in  Ohio.  But  morning  came  at  last, 
and  Levi  hastened  to  spread  the  news  among  the  vet 
erans,  and  make  preparations  for  the  service  of  the  day 
and  evening.  We  met,  in  the  morning,  in  the  large 
Baptist  Church  on  Longworth  street,  I  think,  about 
three  hundred  people,  to  whom,  after  a  short  sermon  by 
the  pastor,  Wallace  Shelton,  Levi  spoke  in  his  plain,  quiet 
way  a  few  minutes,  then  introduced  me.  I  of  course 
was  not  very  vigorous  after  so  chronic  a  siege  in  the 
jaws  of  the  monster,  and  particularly  after  three  nights 
of  almost  sleeplessness — for  I  had  slept  but  little  since 
Wednesday  night — and  spoke  but  a  short  time. 

In  the  afternoon,  after  Eev.  Wallace  Shelton  and 
Levi,  I  spoke  about  a  half  hour  to  some  six  hundred 
people.  But  in  the  evening  I  had  the  whole  of  the  time, 
after  introduction  by  Mr.  Coffin  to  more  that  three  thou 
sand.  Every  seat  was  crowded — more  than  could  sit  in 
comfort;  and  all  standing  room,  even  the  altar,  and 
steps  to  the  pulpit  itself,  and  the  windows;  and  people 
standing  outside  trying  to  look  in — to  catch  some  word. 
I  was  dressed  in  my  freedom  suit  —  a  pair  of  short 


"SING,    CHILLEN,   SING!"  153 

pants,   short  vest,   and  coarse  rowdy  hat,   with  an  old 
scarf  about  my  neck. 

I  labored  under  a  great  difficulty  in  presenting  a 
tasteful  appearance  on  account  of  a  white  stripe  in 
front  between  my  vest  and  pants,  and  to  avoid  making 
too  great  a  display  of  it,  I  kept  partly  behind  the 
pulpit. 

Kitty  Dorum  sat  away  back  near  the  door.  She 
was  a  large,  tall  old  black  woman  who  had  escaped 
from  slavery  in  her  thirteenth  year  with  thirty-six 
cents,  with  which  she  bought  some  shirting,  got  some 
one  to  cut  it  out  and  start  her  in  at  sewing,  made  up 
the  garments,  sold  them,  bought  more  cloth,  made  it 
up  and  sold  the  garments  until,  in  1864,  she  had  ac 
cumulated  a  good  property.  She  was  rich.  She  rose 
in  her  dignity  like  Sojourner  Truth,  and  swinging  out 
a  white  handkerchief,  called  out — 

"Chile,  come  out  from  behin'  de  pulpit,  dar! 
Stan'  up  straight,  chile!" 

Then,  drawing  her  kerchief  around  her  waist,— 
"Look  dar!  He  looks  like  he  had  a  new  moon  tied 
aroun'  'im.  Sit  down,  chile,  we  hear'n  enough.  Sit 
down.  Sing,  chillen,  sing!  Sing  de  bes'  ye  got;" 
and  throwing  up  her  hand, — "Lift  it!  lift  it!  Now  we 
wants  money  for  brother  Fairbank."  And  they  did 
sing,  indeed.  Then,  as  the  custom  of  that  people  is, 


154  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

they  took  up  the  line  of  march,  passing  down  the  right 
hand  aisle,  to  the  front,  and  past  a  table  in  the  altar, 
leaving  their  contributions  there.  Several  times  I  saw 
persons  who  had  passed  and  made  their  contributions, 
pass  and  leave  a  second,  and  third  contribution. 

Soon  Kitty  Dorum  came  crowding  her  way  down, 
— "Get  out  de  way,  chillen!  Kitty  wants  to  come." 
And,  passing  the  table  she  waved  a  ten-dollar  bill  with 
evident  satisfaction,  and  flung  it  on  the  table, — "  Darf 
Dat's  de  way  to  do  it."  We  took  up  over  one  hundred 
dollars.  A  committee  was  then  appointed  to  select  and 
purchase  me  a  suit;  and  Levi  Coffin,  Wallace  Shelton,. 
and  Kitty  Dorum  constituted  that  committee. 

Soon  after  this,  the  Battle  of  the  Wilderness  was 
fought.  We  were  at  Boynton's  church.  Dispatches 
came  in  every  few  minutes;  and  as  often  Rev.  Mr. 
Boynton,  according  as  the  message  was  good  or  bad, 
called  out  "Brethren,  pray!"  or  "Sing  'Praise  God!'" 
Then,  when  the  message  came,  —  "Our  boys  have 
recovered  their  ground,  and  are  advancing  on  the 
enemy," — "Sing  'Praise  God  from  whom  all  blessings 
flow'  !  Now  let  us  go  to  the  Gazette  office  and  stay 
there  all  night.  Take  everybody  along." 

All  night  until  the  light  of  morn  began  to  streak 
the  eastern  sky.  every  inch  of  room  about  the  office — 
the  middle  of  the  street,  and  away  up  to  Orchard  street 


"AFTER    YEARS   OF  FAITHFUL    WAITING."  155 

was  thronged  with  anxious  people  waiting  for  the  dis 
patches  as  they  came  to  the  Gazette  office,  and  from 
there  sent  on  through  watchmen  standing  in  the  win 
dows,  and  repeating  the  messages  as  they  were  read; 
and  they  echoed,  and  murmured  wildly  as  they  swept 
through  the  city  from  mouth  to  mouth.  The  city  was 
in  patriotic  bloom,  and  swelling  with  martial  ardor. 
Seventy-five  thousand  boys  were  called  from  Ohio,  and 
responded  heartily  to  the  call. 

I  hastened  to  surprise  my  friends  at  Oxford  wi-th 
an  unexpected  arrival.  Miss  Tileston  was  boarding  at 
Mr.  Shuey's.  She  had  written  me ;  and  Mr.  Whiteside 
had  remailed  her  letter  with  a  statement,  "Fairbank  is 
pardoned."  She  held  the  letter  as  a  secret.  I  had 
called  at  the  Cincinnati  Gazette  office;  and  Editor 
Smith  had  promised  secresy,  but  revealed  it.  The 
Shuey  family  had  the  Gazette  as  a  secret.  Mr.  Shuey 
was  in  Cincinnati — had  come  in  possession  of  the  fact: 
— had  overtaken  me  on  the  road,  and  was  anticipating 
a  surprise ;  when  all  were  surprised  that,  instead  of  sur 
prising  every  one,  no  one  surprised  any  one*  for  all 
were  in  the  secret. 

After  all  these  years  of  faithful  waiting  on  the  part 
of  a  true  Yankee  girl  we  were  married  on  the  ninth  of 
June  following,  and  entered  upon  the  long-anticipated 
realization  of  domestic  comfort,  which  for  twelve  years 


156  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

and  three  months  lighted  up  our  way  toward  the  better 
land,  when  she  was  swept  from  the  face  of  earth 
September  29th,  1876,  to  join 

"  Friends  fondly  cherished,  who'd  pass'd  on  before," 
and  leaving  with  me  a  precious  boy  of  eight  years:  and 
a  name  that  shall  remain  an  example  to  the  world,  for 
she  "being  dead,  yet  speaketh." 

After  my  marriage,  and  return  to  Cincinnati  I 
attended  a  communion  service  in  the  Baptist  church 
which  had  extended  me  so  cordial  a  welcome  on  Sun 
day,  April  17th  previous,  and  preached  the  Com 
munion  Sermon.  An  Africo-American  sat  in  the 
pulpit  with  me,  and  made  the  opening  prayer,  revealing 
in  his  voice,  tone,  sentiment  uttered — referring  to  past 
events,  that  I  must  have  known  him  before.  After  the 
service  was  over  I  asked  him  : 

"Who  are  you?  Is  your  name  Burns?  Are  you 
the  man  whom  Ward  sold  down  the  river  wearing  a 
collar  and  horns?" 

"Yes,  I'm  the  man." 

"Well,  fact  is  stranger  than  fiction." 

He  said  he  had  skipped  away  out  of  his  cabin  by 
night,  fastened  his  horns  and  twisted  them  off,  fled  to 
a  man  he  knew  who  unpinioned  his  arms  by  breaking 
the  lock,  then  fled  on,  lying  in  the  brush  by  day  and 
watching  until  he  found  an  old  trusty  slave  who  cut 


"BARBARISM  OF  SLAVERY."  157 

the  rivet  that  fastened  his  collar,  and  so  escaped  into 
Ohio.  He  was  known  by  parties  in  Cincinnati  as  a 
pious,  faithful,  able  preacher  in  the  Baptist  Church. 
"When  speaking  of  Baptists  here,  I  mean  the  Africo- 
American  Baptists. 

We  next  visited  Chicago ;  and  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
the  hospitality  of  many  of  her  best  citizens,  among 
whom  was  John  H.  Dimmock,  a  lawyer  of  reputation, 
who  furnished  for  the  Tribune  a  letter  which  reads  as 
follows : — 

EEV.  CALVIN  FAIRBANK. — We  yesterday  had  the  pleasure 
of  an  introduction  to  this  gentleman,  now  in  this  city,  and 
spent  an  hour  or  more  attentive  and  most  interested  listeners 
to  an  account  of  his  long  imprisonment  and  barbarous 
treatment  in  the  Kentucky  penitentiary  at  Frankfort. 
Many  of  our  readers  will  remember  reading  about  the  kid 
naping  of  Rev.  Mr.  Fairbauk  from  Jeffersonville,  Indiana, 
in  1851,  and  his  being  taken  to  Frankfort,  Kentucky,  and 
after  undergoing  a  sort  of  mock  trial,  of  his  being  convicted 
of  the  charge  of  aiding  and  assisting  a  slave  to  escape  from 
bondage  to  freedom,  and  sentenced  to  fifteen  years'  im 
prisonment  in  the  state  prison  of  Kentucky.  We  had  heard 
much  and  read  much  in  regard  to  the  "barbarism  of 
slavery,"  but  never,  until  we  heard  the  statement  of  the 
reverend  gentleman  from  his  own  lips,  did  we  fully  compre 
hend  the  awful,  devilish  monstrosities  of  the  slave  power. 
We  will  give  a  brief  statement  of  the  case,  as  related  to  us, 
believing  that  our  readers  will  be  greatly  interested  and  bene 
fited  by  the  publication  of  the  facts  in  this  extraordinary  case. 


158  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

In  November,  1851,  Rev.  Mr.  Fairbank  was  in  Louisville 
on  business,  and  while  there  was  made  acquainted  with  the 
case  of  a  young  slave  girl,  nearly  white,  who  was  endeavor 
ing  to  escape  to  the  free  states.  She  was  the  property  of 
a  citizen  of  Louisville,  and  was  named  "Tamar."  The 
story  she  related  to  Mr.  Fairbank — though  such  as 
thousands  in  her  condition  could  truly  relate — so  worked  on 
his  feelings  and  so  aroused  his  sympathies  and  indignation 
that  he  determined  to  render  her  escape  certain.  On  the 
night  of  November  2d  they  crossed  the  Ohio  from  Louis 
ville  to  Jeffersonville,  Indiana.  The  girl  secreted  herself 
in  a  field  while  he  went  in  pursuit  of  a  horse  and  buggy. 
Before  daylight  he  got  her,  cold  and  benumbed,  into  the 
buggy,  and  that  day  (November  3d)  drove  thirty-four  miles 
into  Indiana,  placed  her  among  friends,  and  himself  re 
turned  with  the  horse  and  buggy  to  Jeffersonville,  where  he 
remained  about  a  week.  On  his  way  to  church,  on  the  fol 
lowing  Sunday,  he  was  assaulted  and  seized  by  the 
Marshal  of  Louisville,  Kentucky,  and  a  watchman  of 
Louisville,  assisted  by  the  claimant  of  the  escaped  slave, 
and  thus  kidnaped  he  was  taken  by  force  from  Indiana 
into  Kentucky.  He  was  thrown  into  prison  in  Louisville, 
where  he  lay  about  five  months  awaiting  trial,  bail  being 
required  in  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars,  which  he  of 
course  was  unable  to  procure  In  that  state. 

On  the  25th  of  February,  1852,  Mr.  Fairbank  was 
arraigned  for  trial,  although  no  direct  evidence  was  offered, 
and  nothing  but  the  slightest  circumstantial  evidence  given, 
such  as  his  being  seen  in  Louisville  on  the  same  night  the 
girl  escaped;  still,  being  determined  to  punish  him  under 
slave  laws,  they  convicted  him  under  their  statute  relating 
to  enticing  slaves,  and  he  was  sentenced  to  fifteen  years' 


"THE  HORRIBLE    WHIPPINGS.-1  159 

imprisonment.  During  the  time  of  his  imprisonment  he 
was  subjected  to  the  most  brutal,  wicked,  and  inhuman 
treatment  conceivable.  When  he  first  entered  the  prison, 
the  profits  arising  from  the  labor  of  the  prisoners  was 
divided  between  the  state  and  the  warden,  or  prison  con 
tractor.  Each  prisoner  was  required  to  perform  an  allotted 
amount  of  work,  which  was  equal  to  what  a  strong,  well 
man  could  do  at  the  utmost  exertion  of  his  strength  and 
endurance.  Mr.  Fairbank's  strength  and  health  soon  failed 
him,  and  he  was  utterly  incapable  of  performing  his  tasks. 
Then  commenced  the  horrible  brutality  to  which  he  was 
subjected.  He  was  put  at  the  hardest,  dirtiest  work,  and 
orders  were  given  by  Newton  Craig,  the  then  warden,  to 
"kill  him."  The  insulting  language  constantly  addressed 
to  him — the  hated  tones  of  voice  and  insolent  and  abusive 
manner,  to  say  nothing  of  the  horrible  oaths  directed  to 
him,  were  enough  to  prostrate  a  man  of  his  refined  and 
sensitive  mind.  But  all  this  was  as  nothing  compared  to 
the  horrible  whippings  inflicted  upon  his  naked  person! 
Forced  to  lean  forward  over  a  stool,  chair,  or  bench,  he  was 
made  to  strip,  and  then  with  a  sole-leather  strap,  eighteen 
inches  in  length,  two  inches  wide,  and  about  three-eighths 
of  an  inch  thick,  soaked  in  water  and  fastened  to  a  handle 
about  two  feet  long,  he  was  flogged,  sometimes  daily,  some 
times  four  times  a  day,  for  not  performing  a  heavier  task 
than  it  was  possible  for  him  to  do  in  his  state  of  health. 
He  was  given  from  two  to  one  hundred  and  seven  lashes  at 
a  time.  Sometimes  he  would  escape  a  flogging  for  a  month, 
and  once  six  months  passed  off  without  his  being  whipped. 
During  the  time  he  was  imprisoned  he  was  brutally  flogged 
more  than  one  thousand  times  because  he  had  not  fulfilled, 
through  weakness  and  exhaustion,  the  task  imposed  upon 


160  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

him.  On  one  occasion,  during  the  last  winter,  a  keeper 
named  Whiteside,  and  the  only  human  man  connected  with 
the  prison  management,  had  directed  Mr.  Fairbank  to  cord 
up  a  lot  of  wood.  While  doing  this,  an  under-keeper  named 
Jeffries  came  along  and  asked  Mr.  F.  roughly  what  he  was 
doing  that  for.  Mr.  F.  replied  that  he  was  doing  it  by  order 
of  Mr.  Whiteside.  Jeffries  ordered  him  not  to  cord  up  any 
more  wood,  and  Mr.  Fairbank  replying  that  he  must  do  as 
directed  by  the  officer  highest  in  authority,  Jeffries,  in  a 
rage,  seized  a  stick  of  wood  and  struck  Mr.  F.  over  the 
temple  a  blow  that  cut  to  the  skull,  knocking  him  blind  and 
senseless,  and  which  placed  him  in  the  prison  hospital  for 
several  weeks,  and  from  which,  owing  to  the  shock  to  the 
brain,  as  "in  the  case  of  the  assault  upon  Senator  Sumner  by 
bully  Brooks,  he  has  not  yet  fully  recovered. 

How  many  times  the  heart  of  the  poor  prisoner  sunk 
within  him,  how  many  times  he  prayed  earnestly  that  death 
might  end  his  sufferings;  how  he  was  kept  alive,  and  was 
permitted  to  hope  on,  and  live,  is  known  only  to  his  God. 
Yet  it  is  a  great  wonder  how  the  mind  could  have  been  pre 
served  from  utter  wreck  and  ruin — how  it  was  that  insanity 
did  not  deprive  him  long  since  of  all  consciousness  of  the 
cruel  wrongs  he  was  obliged  to  suffer  and  endure. 

But  have  we  not  the  explanation  in  the  knowledge  that 
he  surely  possessed,  that  there  was  waiting  for  him  a 
loving  and  devoted  heart,  made  all  the  more  loving, 
devoted  and  constant  by  his  civil  bondage  and  the  horrors 
to  which  he  was  subjected?  Was  it  not  that  he  knew,  or 
had  faith  to  believe  that  her  efforts  in  his  behalf  would 
never  cease  ?  And  that  he  owed  it  to  her,  if  not  to  himself, 
to  endeavor  to  bear  with  Christian  patience  and  manly 


"THE  STAFF  OF  LIFE   TO   HIM."  161 

fortitude  the  grievous   afflictions  which  he  was  compelled 
to  experience? 

At  the  time  of  the  imprisonment  of  Rev.  Mr.  Fairbank, 
he  was  engaged  to  be  married  to  Miss  Mandana  Tileston, 
of  Williamsburg,  Mass.,  a  young  lady  of  rare  personal 
attractions  and  mental  endowments.  And  the  qualities, 
both  of  heart  and  mind,  which  this  estimable  lady  possessed, 
will  be  best  illustrated  by  stating  that,  during  all  the  time 
of  his  imprisonment  (from  November,  1851,  to  April,  1864), 
Mr.  F.  was  the  one  particular  object  of  all  her  thoughts  and 
all  her  devoted  affections.  Her  loving,  and  cheerful,  and 
hopeful  letters  were  as  the  staff  of  life  to  him!  Though 
stripped  of  all  his  money,  clothing  and  property  when  he 
was  imprisoned,  and  after  his  other  means  failed,  she  sent 
him  money  with  which  to  supply  his  wants — furnished  him 
a  bed,  bedding,  towels,  linen,  and  funds  with  which  to 
provide  himself  with  suitable  food,  coffee,  tea,  etc.,  and  to 
supply  him  with  such  comforts  as  it  was  possible  to  do,  and 
that  he  might  not  be  obliged  to  eat  the  miserable  prison 
fare  which  was  supplied  by  the  warden.  She  visited  him 
in  person  in  1853,  1855,  1859,  1860,  1863,  making  constant 
efforts  to  procure  his  pardon. 

At  length,  after  twelve  years,  one  month  and  six  days 
dreadful  imprisonment  in  the  state  prison  at  Frankfort, 
besides  the  four  months  he  was  in  jail  in  Louisville,  Mr. 
Fairbank  received  a  pardon  from  Lieutenant- Governor 
Jacob,  of  Kentucky,  and  was  restored  to  his  liberty. 

During  the  six  last  years  Miss  Tileston  has  been  residing 
in  Oxford,  Ohio,  as  a  teacher,  where  she  might  be  near  Mr. 
F.  and  where  she  could  be  enabled  to  furnish  him  with  con 
tinued  means.     As  soon  as  he  was  set  at  liberty,  he  repaired 
11 


162  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

at  once  to  her  place  of  residence,  where  they  were  married 
a  few  weeks  since. 

On  leaving  the  prison  he  was  furnished  with  five  dollars 
from  the  prison  fund  and  an  old  suit  of  clothes,  such  as  a 
hod-carrier  might  wear.  None  of  his  personal  property 
was  surrendered  to  him.  the  present  keeper  refusing  to  give 
it  to  him,  saying  to  him,  "All  this  property  is  mine!" 
Seventy-five  dollars  sent  to  him  was  withheld  and  kept  by 
the  warden,  Newton  Craig.  And  after  almost  thirteen  years 
of  imprisonment  at  hard  labor,  stripped  of  all  his  means, 
he  boarding  himself  during  his  incarceration,  he  is  again 
free! 

What  a  martyr  to  the  benevolent  impulses  of  the  human 
heart,  has  he  not  been!  What  an  illustration  of  the  "bar 
barism  of  slavery,"  is  his  history!  What  an  example  of 
true  womanhood.  What  an  instance  of  that  constancy, 
devoted  affection,  and  self-sacrificing  spirit  which  is  the 
true  ornament  of  the  gentler  sex,  the  rare  exhibition  of 
wrhich  in  these  degenerate  days,  makes  this  illustrious 
instance  stand  out  in  transcendent  beauty  and  holiness! 

Reception  at  Detroit,  Michigan. 

t 
Leaving  Chicago  after  a  month's   very  gratifying 

entertainment,  we  took,  a  steamer  for  Detroit,  where  we 
enjoyed  a  reception  by  invitation  of  the  most  prominent 
citizens  of  the  place,  among  whom  were  E.  B.  Ward, 
Eev.  George  Duffield,  Eev.  W.  Hogarth,  and  Kev.  James 
M.  Buckley,  now  editor  of  the  Christian  Advocate  at 
New  York,  as  follows: 


RECEPTION  AT  DETROIT,   MICH.  163 

A  PUBLIC  DISCOURSE  BY  EEV.  CALVIN  FAIRBANK. — The 
following  correspondence  has  already  been  alluded  to  by  us 
and  will  explain  itself.  We  hope  that  Mr.  Fairbank  will 
secure  a  numerous  attendance,  and  can  assure  all  who  may 
be  present  of  an  interesting  narrative.  Mr.  Fairbank  has 
been  stripped  of  health  and  means.  He  desires  to  publish 
an  account  of  his  imprisonment,  in  such  a  form  as  will  be  of 
pecuniary  benefit  to  him.  It  is  proper  to  state  that  at  the 
lecture  provided  for  in  the  correspondence,  an  opportunity 
will  be  afforded  those  who  may  feel  inclined,  to  contribute 
for  the  object  named. 

AN  INVITATION. 

DETBOIT,  July  30,  1864. 
REV.  CALVIN  FAIEBANK — Dear  Sir: 

The  undersigned,  learning  that  you  will  remain  in  Detroit  for 
some  days,  and  appreciating  your  devotion  to  human  freedom,  and 
sympathizing  with  the  sufferings  you  have  endured  on  that  account, 
would  be  pleased  to  hear  from  your  own  lips  on  some  public  occasion 
the  recital  of  the  incidents  of  your  twelve  years'  imprisonment  in 
the  state  prison  of  Kentucky  for  the  sole  alleged  crime  of  giving 
practical  application  to  the  sublime  precepts  of  the  Golden  Rule. 

H.  P.  BALDWIN,  E.  B.  WAED, 

ALLAN  SHELDON,  WM.  A.  HOWARD, 

L.  G.  BERRY,  GEO.  DUFFIELD, 

JOHN  J.  LEONARD,  JOHN  P.  SCOTT, 

WM.  A.  BUTLER,  JOHN  H.  GRIFFITH, 

DAVID  PRESTON,  S.  ELDREDGE, 

A.  SHELEY,  H.  D.  KITCHELL, 

LYMAN  BALDWIN,  R.  W.  KING, 

DANIEL  CHAMBERLIN,  J.  OWEN, 

CAMPBELL,  LINN  &  Co.,  S.  CONANT, 

STEPHEN  BALMER,  H.  HALLOCK, 

W.  HOGARTH,  JAMES  M.  BUCKLEY, 
KELLOGG,  GRANGER  &  SABIN. 


164  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

ME.  FAIRBANK'S  REPLY. 

DETBOIT,  August  2,  1864. 

GENTLEMEN — I  have  just  received  your  letter  of  the  30th  ult., 
requesting  me  to  give  on  some  public  occasion  an  account  of  the 
unjust  imprisonment  from  which  I  have  lately  been  released,  and 
during  which  I  suffered  at  the  hands  of  a  "  horde  of  petty  tyrants  " 
all  the  horrors  legitimately  arising  from  the  institution  so  long  a 
blight  to  American  civilization.  I  am  glad  to  accept  your  invita 
tion,  and  will  on  Sunday,  the  7th  inst.,  at  7^  o'clock  p.  M.,  at  the 
Congregational  Church  on  Fort  street,  give  a  detailed  account  of  my 
arrest,  imprisonment,  and  pardon  on  the  15th  of  April  by  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor  Jacob,  then  acting  Governor. 

Meanwhile  I  shall  look  forward  to  that  occasion,  confidently 
hoping  that  I  shall  be  able  to  afford  you  satisfaction  and  meet  your 
most  sanguine  expectations. 

I  crave,  gentlemen,  the  privilege  of  subscribing, 

Yours,  for  the  slave, 

CALVIN  FAIRBANK. 

To  MESSBS.  H.  P.  BALDWIN,  E.  B.  WABD,  WM.  A.  HOWABD,  W. 
HOGABTH,  JAMES  M.  BUCKLEY,  GEOBGE  DUFFIELD,  JOHN  OWEN,  A. 
ELDBIDGE,  H.  D.  KITCHELL,  and  others. 

At  Ypsilanti  the  report  is  as  follows: 

Several  introductory  exercises  having  been  gone  through, 
the  Rev.  Calvin  Fairbank,  the  orator  of  the  evening,  was 
introduced,  and  was  received  with  cheer  after  cheer.  He 
gave  a  long  history  of  his  capture,  sufferings,  and  release 
from  the  Kentucky  penitentiary.  He  also  eulogized  the 
Christian  fortitude  and  truly  womanly  bearing  of  his  be 
trothed,  who,  on  his  release,  was  immediately  joined  to  him 
in  holy  wedlock. 

Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  reports: 

REV.  CALVIN  FAIRBANK,  who  was  kidnaped  from  Indiana, 
November  9th,  1852,  and  lodged  in  Louisville  jail,  put  in 


WELCOME  AT  O BERLIN.  165 

irons,  and  finally  sent  to  the  prison  at  Frankfort  under  sen 
tence  of  fifteen  years,  for  giving  aid  and  assistance  to  a  slave 
girl  who  had  escaped  from  her  master,  A.  L.  Shotwell  of 
Louisville,  and  pardoned  on  the  15th  of  April  last  by  Lieu 
tenant  and  Acting  Governor  Jacob,  in  absence  of  Governor 
Bramlette,  after  suffering  more  than  twelve  years,  will  speak 
at  College  Hall,  to  morrow  evening  (Sunday,  18th  inst.),  at 
seven  o'clock,  giving  a  history  of  his  arrest,  trial,  imprison 
ment,  suffering  and  pardon.  As  we  see  from  the  public 
papers,  Mr.  Fairbank's  case  is  one  involving  romance  and 
tragedy:  Romance,  in  the  faithful  adherence  of  a  faithful 
young  woman,  Miss  Tileston,  of  Williamsburg,  Mass.,  who 
left  her  home  in  the  far  east  and  repaired  to  the  west,  to 
watch  the  interests  of  the  one  she  loved,  and  their  marriage 
on  the  9th  of  June ;  and  tragedy,  in  the  barbarous  and  mur 
derous  treatment  through  which  he  has  passed,  and  comes 
to  us  living.  He  states  that  he  has  received  more  than  one 
thousand  floggings,  equal  to  more  than  thirty-five  thousand 
lashes;  and  other  abuses  in  proportion.  Come  and  hear 
him. 

Our  next  welcome  was  at  Oberlin,  where  we  enjoyed 
the  freedom  of  the  most  renowned  community  and 
institution  of  learning  in  the  country,  having  sent  into 
the  field  as  officers,  soldiers,  nurses  and  teachers  more 
men  and  women  than  any — I  came  near  saying  than 
all  the  other  schools  in  the  United  States  put  together. 
I  don't  know  how  far  I  should  have  erred  if  I  had.  I 
spoke  in  the  Second  church,  which  was  packed  with 
students,  Prof.  Cowles  presiding. 

In  his  introductory  remarks  he  said:   "I  am  about 


166  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

to  introduce  to  yon  one  who,  for  his  loyalty  to  the 
'  Higher  Law,'  and  for  his  contempt  of  the  law  of 
despotism, — scorning  alike  her  authority  in  her  hours  of 
prosperity,  and  her  proffers  of  distinction  in  her  hour 
of  peril:  and  daring  to  smite  in  the  face  a  state  guilty 
of  superlative  infidelity  to  the  Nation  and  the  moral 
law, — received  at  the  hands  of  enlightened  infidels 
seventeen  years  and  four  months  of  imprisonment  at 
hard  labor,  and  more  than  thirty-five  thousand  stripes. 
And  still  he  is  not  frightened  out  of  his  loyalty,  but 
stands  out  to-day  as  a  glorious  exponent  of  the  Liberty 
Guards  of  the  Nation.  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  mean 
Eev.  Calvin  Fairbank." 


i 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
Election. — My  Vote  at  Oberlin. 

HAD  left  Oberlin  with  the  express  understanding 
that  I  should  return,  and  support  the  party  with 
my  vote.  I  had  not  voted  there  during  fifteen  years, 
my  vote  in  1849  being  the  last  I  had  cast  in  that  town, 
though  I  had,  all  the  while,  held  my  citizenship  there; 
and  in  Cincinnati  in  1851  voted  the  State  ticket  for  Sam 
Lewis  for  Governor. 

I  was  in  Cleveland;  and  left  just  in  time  to  arrive 
in  Oberlin  at  twenty-five  minutes  before  sundown,  and 
took  a  double-quick  for  the  polling  place.  As  I  left 
the  depot  I  heard  the  shout, — "  There  he  comes!  Come 
on!  Come  on!"  And  there  stood  Peck,  Ellis,  Plumb, 
Cowles,  Hill,  Morgan  and  Charles  G.  Finney,  beckoning 
me  on,  and  shouting,  "Come  on!  Come  on!"  Almost 
every  place  has  the  ubiquitous  Democrat;  and  he  was 
here  to  question  my  vote.  Said  Mr.  Finney,  "  Come, 
challenge  his  vote  if  you  are  going  to.  But,  if  you  do, 
he  will  swear  it  in."  But  he  did  not  challenge,  and  I 
cast  my  first  vote  in  the  town  for  fifteen  years ;  and  the 
first  Republican  vote  of  my  life. 

167 


168  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

I  have  always  thought  well  of  a  religion  which 
comprehended  citizenship; — of  a  ministry  that  found 
sin  in  bad  voting  and  recognized  the  obligation  of  the 
citizen  at  the  polls  as  a  moral  obligation. 

At  Toronto,   Canada — Field-day — Sir  Charles 
Napier — His  Audience. 

At  Toronto,  Canada,  we  enjoyed  one  of  the  most 
pleasant  experiences  since  the  day  of  our  nuptials, 
mainly,  and  notably,  that  I  was  before  a  British  people, 
who  were  not  as  loyal  to  us  as  they  ought  to  have  been, 
— that  I  had  an  opportunity  to  remind  them  in  their 
own  homes,  and  in  presence  of  high  authority,  of  their 
kinship,  and  their  obligation  to  our  independent  mem 
ber  of  the  English  family,  without  in  the  least  becom 
ing  offensive.  But  011  the  contrary,  eliciting  the 
applause  of  the  great  marshal  and  soldier  of  the  Crimea 
with  his  staff,  and  officers  of  rank,  in  one  of  the  most 
respectable  churches  in  the  city.  This  was  October, 
1864. 

On  the  Saturday  before  I  had  witnessed  the  most 
magnificent  pageant  of  my  life.  It  was  field-day :  and 
Sir  Charles  Napier  sat,  apparently,  an  uninterested, 
unconcerned,  happy,  sandy-whiskered  Scotchman,  his 
aids  riding  swift  and  fleet, — stooping — touching  cap,— 
and  away  to  the  gorgeously  arrayed  and  exquisitely 


FIELD  DAY—SIR   CHARLES  NAPIER.  169 

marshaled  lines — at  a  sound  of  the  horn  sometimes  in 
a  moment  condensing  into  a  phalanx,  then  spinning 
from  some  corner,  or  perhaps  two,  or  more :  and  sooner 
than  I  can  write  it  stretching  away  in  glittering  lines, 
receding  in  the  distance:  then  in  apparent  battle  in 
our  front:  and  at  another  sound,  the  fleet  chargers  fly 
over  the  green,  and  we  are  startled  with  the  sound  of 
battle  in  our  rear,  and  sent  flying  to  the  barracks. 

So,  recognizing  the  hero  of  the  Crimea  with  his 
georgeous  suite,  and  a  large  number  of  a  lower  rank, 
and  common  soldiery  before  me, — speaking  of  the 
animus  of  the  Confederacy,  the  necessity  of  resistance 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  and  even  aggressive 
war  until  submission,  I  said: 

"/  witnessed  your  field-day  yesterday:  and  the 
worst  wish  I  entertained  was  that  Grant  had  Sir  Charles 
with  ten  thousand  of  his  well-disciplined  troops  on  the 
Potomac  with  him." 

And  Sir  Charles  rose  high  in  his  seat, — his  cane 
fell  heavily  on  the  floor  followed  by  such  a  crash,  and 
clapping  of  hands,  and  waving  of  flags  of  both  England 
and  America  blended,  as  rarely  comes  to  the  lot  of  an 
American  speaker  on  British  soil.  I  had  hit  the  right 
string.  I  had  gained  a  victory.  Surely,  I  had  wit 
nessed,  at  any  rate,  a  spirit  of  friendship  in  a  renowned 


170  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

British  soldier  and  his  hundred  spearmen  for  the 
daughter  of  their  mother. 

Thence  we  took  our  way  to  grand  old  Alleganyy 
New  York,  visited  my  mother,  and  family:  and  soon 
bent  our  course  for  Williamsburg,  Massachusetts,  where 
we  arrived  on  Thanksgiving  day  of  1864. 

On  January  2d,  1865,  we  left  Massachusetts  for 
Philadelphia,  where  we  had  been  called  to  enjoy  an 
ovation  from  the  people  in  a  most  emphatic  and  loyal 
demonstration  in  speech  and  song,  and  here  we  enjoyed 
once  more — 

"  Home  again,  home  again, 
From  a  foreign  shore." 

About  the  10th  of  January  I  attended  one  of  the 
most  extraordinary  meetings  that  come  to  mortals  dur 
ing  a  lifetime.  Considering  the  object  of  the  meeting, 
its  constituency,  its  presiding  genius,  and  the  character 
of  the  speakers,  it  was  one  the  like  of  which  is  rarely 
enjoyed  in  a  century.  Called  by  the  first  citizens  of 
Philadelphia  for  the  purpose  of  entering  a  protest 
..ly  against  the  practice  of  the  Street  Railway  Companies 
toward  Africo  -  American  passengers, — refusing  them 
room  in  the  same  car  with  white  people, — presided  over 
by  Bishop  Potter  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
and  addressed  by  such  men  as  Robert  Purvis,  Brewster, 
and  Phillips  Brooks,  it  was  one  of  the  most  notable 


"I  AM  A    GENTLEMAN!"  171 

^  itherings  of  the  decade.  Phillips  Brooks  was  eloquence 
personified.  As  he  poured  forth  his  thoughts  he 
svayed  like  an  elm  in  the  storm.  After  Mr.  Brooks, 
came  a  little  man  with  an  intellectual,  though  hideous 
face. 

"MR.  CHAIRMAN:  I'm  a  gentleman:  because  no  man 
,a,n  hold  this  ticket  (a  platform  ticket)  who  is  not  a 
gentleman.  I  have  not  always  been  a  gentleman.  In 
former  times  I  and  my  father  were  known  as  the  slave - 
hunter's  attorneys ;  and  whenever  the  poor  fugitive  fled 
toward  the  North  Star  for  his  life,  we  were  always 
relied  upon  to  recapture  him ;  or  provide  the  legal  advice 
and  instruments  for  his  rendition.  Then  I  was  not  a 
gentleman.  But,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  have  repented,  and 
am  forgiven.  Now  I  am  a  gentleman.  I  have  been 
for  a  long  time  disgusted  with  the  practice  of  the  street 
railway  companies  toward  thirty  thousand  people  in 
this  city.  A  gentleman  or  lady  with  a  dark  complexion, 
or  a  moiety  of  African  blood, — never  whiter,  if  it  is  just 
believed  that  an  infinitesimal  drop  of  African  blood 
runs  in  his,  or  her  veins,  cannot,  by  their  rules,  ride  on 
their  cars  with  white  people,  decent,  or  never  so  indecent 
if  only  a  claim  to  Caucassian  blood  can  be  maintained, 
but  must  go  to  the  'Jim  Crow'  car.  Mr.  Chairman, 
what  is  the  objection  to  this  people?  They  say  that 
they  are  black — that  they  are  homely.  Am  I  not 


172  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

homely  too?  Look  at  my  face.  I  have  had  people 
turn  away  from  me  in  disgust.  Don't  I  feel  it?  Don't 
they  feel  it  ?  Don't  I  know  what  it  is  ?  Are  not  these 
people,  many  of  them,  specimens  of  exquisite  symmetry  ? 
Every  art  has  been  used  to  make  my  face  look  like  a 
human  face;  and  still  I  am  hideous  to  look  at.  I  can't 
help  it.  They  can't  help  it.  But,  it  is  said  they  smell 
Lad.  Who  makes  this  complaint?  Who  are  they? 
Why,  sir,  they  are  people  who  patronize  onions  and 
whisky  more  than  cologne.  Whew! — I  can  smell  one  a 
mile,  now!  Mr.  Chairman,  let  us  pass  this  bill  of 
instructions,  and  let  these  companies  know  that  they 
are  not  to  trample  on  the  dearest  rights  of  community 
— of  humanity — to  infringe  and  trench  upon  the  civil, 
social,  and  moral  structure  of  American  civilization." 

Mr.  Purvis  had  spoken  with  great  power,  and  the 
resolves  passed  by  acclamation. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 
At  Baltimore,  Washington,  and  Norfolk,  Va. 

A  KRANGEMENTS  had  been  completed  for  a  re- 
•*  ^  ception  at  the  most  aristocratic  church  of  the 
Africo- Americans  of  Washington ;  and,  receiving  a 
letter  from  Eev.  Henry  Highland  Garnett,  its  pastor, 
we  at  once  repaired  to  Baltimore  where  we  spent  the 
Sabbath  with  pleasant  results,  and  on  Monday  follow 
ing  were  in  the  "City  of  vast  distances,"  a  guest  of 
Dr.  Garnett,  one  of  the  most  learned  and  distin 
guished  pure-blooded  Africo- Americans  in  the  United 
States. 

At  an  audience  given  me  in  that  church,  on  the 
night  of  my  arrival,  I  met  many  of  the  Northern  anti- 
slavery  workers  who  were  reaping  a  little  harvest  as  a 
result  of  former  labors  in  the  cause  of  freedom.  I  had 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Kev.  John  Pierpont,  then 
pastor  of  a  church  in  the  city,  and  on  a  pleasant  Sun 
day  we  were  on  our  way  to  his  church  when  I  heard  a 
call, — saw  a  man  in  full  run,  beckoning — "  Doctor,  Mr. 
Garnett  has  sent  for  you  TO  PREACH  BEFORE  THE 
PRESIDENT,  AND  MORE  THAN  A  SCORE  OF  CONGRESSMEN. 

173 


174  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

He  lias  been  sick,  and  is  not  able  to  preach.  He  wants 
you  to  come  right  up." 

I  sent  him  to  my  room  for  my  papers  (you  see,  I 
did  not  want  to  preach  before  such  an  audience  without 
my  compass),  and  preached  with  satisfaction  to  myself 
before  the  most  angust  audience  I  had  ever  addressed. 
There  were  the  President  of  the  United  States,  his  wife 
and  family,  and  most  of  the  members  of  his  cabinet — 
Mr.  Seward,  S.  P.  Chase,  Mr.  Stanton,  Mr.  Speed;  and 
Senators  Sumner,  Wilson,  Hale,  Wade,  Cass,  Gratz 
Brown;  and  of  the  Lower  House,  Ashley,  Dawes  and 
a  score  unknown  to  me, — yes,  and  there  were  Senators 
Powell  and  Garrett  Davis  of  Kentucky,  and  Lane  and 
Pomeroy  of  Kansas;  and  the  most  of  them  in  gold- 
bowed  spectacles.  It  was  an  august,  impressive  au 
dience. 

At  the  close  Dr.  Garnett  announced  that  I  would 
speak  in  the  Thirty-first  Street  Baptist  church  that 
evening:  and  a  Friend  from  Fair  Haven,  Connecticut, 
said  to  me,  "Why  did  not  thee  tell  us  thou  wert  Calvin 
Fairbank  before  thee  began  to  preach?  I  should  have 
enjoyed  it  so  much  better." 

At  Norfolk,   Va.— John  M.  Brown. 

When  at  Oberlin  I  was  familiar  with  a  very  intel 
lectual,  pious,  zealous  young  Africo-American — John 


AT  NORFOLK,    V A.— JOHN  M.   BROWN.  175 

M.  Brown,  with  whom  I  was  accustomed  to  go  out  on 
Sunday,  and  hold  meetings.  It  was  he  who  called  my 
attention  to  the  case  of  Gilson  Berry's  wife,  which 
finally  led  to  the  escape  of  Mr.  Hayden,  and  my  first 
arrest.  I  found  that  he  was  at  Norfolk,  and  wrote  to 
him.  I  had  changed  my  boarding  place.  One  day  I 
was  told  that  a  gentleman  had  called  to  see  me,  and  on 
coming  into  his  presence  and  not  recognizing  him, 
asked,  "Who  is  this?" 

"My  name  is  Brown.     Don't  you  know  me?" 

"No,  I  don't." 

"You  and  I  used  to  be  fast  friends."  Still  I  did 
not  know  him. 

"Where  did  you  know  me?" 

"At  Oberlin." 

Then  I  had  to  think  for  a  while  before  I  could  get 
him  into  my  mind ;  for  he  looked  so  young  and  hand 
some  that  I  could  not  conclude  that  pleasant  little  John 
M.  Brown  was  before  me.  I  expected  to  see  him  old 
and  broken.  At  last  I  recognized  him  as  my  friend  of 
the  days  of  "Lang  Syne"  We  soon  went  to  Norfolk, 
and  were  met  at  the  landing  wharf  by  Bro.  Brown, 
many  of  his  people,  a  score  of  teachers  in  employ  of  the 
American  Missionary  Society  with  Secretary  Whipple 
at  their  head,  and  escorted  to  the  Mission  House  where 
we  enjoyed  a  most  refreshing  stay  until  the  Thursday 


176  HO W  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

before  the  fall  of  Kichmond,  March  30,  when  we  took  a 
steamer  for  Washington,  after  some  most  magnificent 
demonstrations  of  loyalty  to  us,  to  the  United  States, 
and  to  God  by  that  people  who  for  two  hundred  years 
had  been  crushed  under  the  heel  of  despotism.  There 
were  several  large  Africo-American  churches  there 
which  were  unable  to  hold  more  than  a  small  minority 
of  the  people  who  crowded  every  place  where  we 
appeared.  The  white  rebels  avoided  us. 

President   Lincoln's   Inauguration. 

March  4th,  1865,  was  a  most  horrid  morning.  Bain 
fell  in  broken  sheets,  driven  by  the  wind;  but  people 
came  just  the  same,  moving  toward  the  Capitol  until 
twelve  M.  The  mud  in  .Pennsylvania  Avenue  was  hub 
deep — a  canal  of  batter ;  and  I  stood  with  my  good  wife 
from  nine  A.M.  until  twelve  M.  in  front  of  the  great  plat 
form,  standing  on  bricks  as  the  rain  dashed  upon  a 
thousand  umbrellas. 

Without  regard  to  rain,  we  took  our  positions  near 
the  front  platform  where  the  great  event  was  to  occur, 
Mrs.  Fairbank  standing  each  foot  on  two  bricks  where, 
protected  by  three  umbrellas,  we  remained  three  hours, 
until  twelve  M.,  when  the  immortal  pageant  burst  from 
the  columns  of  the  Capitol.  The  rain  had  ceased,  the 
clouds  hastened  to  their  chambers ;  and  nature  assumed 


THE  LEVEE— SOJOURNER    TRUTH.  177 

an  air  of  joy  and  serenity  rarely  witnessed  on  that  day. 
Then  the  short,  pointed,  brave  declaration  of  the  mind 
of 'the  Chief  Executive  of  the  Nation — "DROP  FOB  DROP: 


The  Levee. 

At  the  levee  that  night  thirty  thousand  people 
passed  in  and  out  of  the  White  House.  At  one  time  a 
throng  was  pressing  the  door  of  the  room  where  the 
President  received  his  guests,  and  Frederic  Douglass 
among  others  pressed  to  the  door,  when  "Hold  on! "- 
and  others  kept  passing  in. 

"Hold  on!  You  can't  go  in  now.  It  is  not  con 
venient." 

"How  is  that?  I  see  others  passing  in." 

Some  one  interfered,  —  "This  is  Frederic  Doug- 
lass." 

When  Douglass, — "Never  mind.  I  do  not  want  to 
go  in  as  Frederic  Douglass;  but  as  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States." 

Here  comes  the  great  man  of  the  age,  President 
Lincoln,  with  his  long  arm  extended  over  heads  and 
through  the  crowd. — "WHY,  HOW  DO  YOU  DO,  FREDERIC? 
COME  RIGHT  IN!" 

Some  time  after  we  were  standing  in  the  great  East 

room  when 
12 


178  HOW  "THE    WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

Sojourner   Truth, 

walking   in,   and   approaching   the   marshal,   said:      "I 
want  to  see  President  Lincum." 

"Well,  the  President  is  busy,  I  think,  and  you  can't 
see  him  now." 

"Yes,  I  must  see  him.  If  he  knetv  I  ivas  here  he'd 
come  down  an"1  see  me" 

Finally  the  marshal  went  to  the  President's  room 
with  a  statement  of  the  case,  when  the  President  said, 

"  I  guarantee  that  she  is  Sojourner  Truth.  Bring 
her  up  here." 

And  here  she  came;  and  we  just  approached  near 
enough  to  catch  the  glimpses,  and  hear  the  words  of 
greeting. 

" SOJOURNER  TRUTH!  How  GLAD  i  AM  TO  SEE  YOU." 

The  President  bought  her  book.  Then  handing 
him  her  photograph,  she  said: 

"  If  s  got  a  black  face  but  a  white  back;  an*  Fd  like 
one  o'  yourn  wid  a  green  back." 

That  was  too  good.  The  President  laughed  heartily ; 
then  putting  his  fingers  into  his  vest-pocket,  and  hand 
ing  her  a  ten-dollar  bill  said,  "There  is  my  face  with 
a  green  back." 

We  left  Norfolk  on  Thursday,  March  30th,  before 
the  fall  of  Kichmond.  To  make  this  clear, — we  went  to 
New  York  after  our  first  visit  to  Philadelphia  and 


"/'Jf  A   REBEL,   SIR."  179 

Washington  the  first  time,  then  returned  to  "Washington 
and  Norfolk,  stopping  at  Wilmington,  Delaware,  as  I 
have  said.  We  had  a  Government  pass  and  transporta 
tion.  At  Fortress  Monroe  we  took  on  board  three  rebel 
ladies,  one  of  whom  was  Mrs.  General  Helm,  in  care  of 
General  Singleton,  of  Quincy,  Illinois.  Our  state-room 
was  the  small  cabin.  Soon  they  were  playing  at  cards. 
Standing  in  the  door  the  purser  said  to  me, 

"Do  you  see  those  three  ladies  playing  at  cards 
at  that  table?  That  pinky-looking  one  there  is  Mrs. 
Helm,  Mrs.  Lincoln's  sister.  The  other  two  are  going 
to  Quincy,  Illinois,  with  General  Singleton." 

I  soon  caught  on  and  said,  "I'm  a  rebel,  sir." 
"Yes,  I  know  what  kind  of  a  rebel  you  are." 
"Well,  I  am."  Then,  taking  my  place  on  the  sofa  I 
soon  had  the  ladies  beside  me,  and  in  confidence  pour 
ing  their  secrets  into  my  ears.      Richmond  to  be  evacu 
ated!     Its  overthrow  was  just  a  foregone  conclusion, — a 
question  of  time.     Mrs.  Helm  was  fleeing  to  the  White 
House,  and  the  others  to  Quincy,  Illinois.     But  by  and 
by  they  "dropped  onto  me,"  as  the  boys  say,  and  flew 
to  their  rooms  like  wild  birds. 

On  my  way  up  the  Chesapeake  bay,  I  got  off  at 
Point  Lookout,  imparted  to  the  commander  what  I  had 
gathered  from  my  rebel  friends,  of  the  probable  immi- 


180  HOW  "THE   WAY"    WAS  PREPARED. 

nent  fall  of  Richmond,  and  went  on  my  way  toward  my 
adopted  New  England  home. 

Fall  of  Richmond,  April  2d. 

Arrived  in  New  York  on  Saturday  night,  April  1st. 
The  city  had  been  in  a  blaze  of  flags,  banners,  and 
streamers  for  two  months  or  more.  Now  the  crisis  is  at 
hand.  Morning  came,  April  2d.  "We  hastened  to  Sulli 
van  Street  church.  People  held  their  breath.  Sullivan 
Street  church  is  A.  M.  E.,  and  of  course  the  people  were 
anxious.  I  said,  "I'll  go  back  and  see  what  I  can 
learn.  Wait  ye  here."  I  hastened,  and  learned  that 
Eichmond  had  just  fallen.  I  speedily  returned,  and 
found  the  minister  just  reading  his  first  hymn.  I  paid 
no  attention  to  minister,  hymn,  or  anything  else,  but 

" EICHMOND  HAS  GONE  UP!" 

Eunning  up  into  the  pulpit, — "Eichmond  has  gone  up!" 
The  hymn  book  dropped!  The  minister  stood  entranced! 
A  wail— a  shout— a  shriek  of  "  H AL-LELU J AH ! ! " 
swept  through  the  house,  into  the  street  and  through 
the  city  like  the  shout  of  victorious  armies. 

We  arrived  in  Williamsburg,  Massachusetts,  on  the 
14th  of  April,  and  early  next  morning  learned  of  the 

ASSASSINATION  OF  THE  PRESIDENT 

the  night  before,  at  Ford's  theatre.  At  the  moment  of 
our  grandest  achievement  the  country  was  stricken  with 


" HOW  ARE   THE  MIGHTY  FALLEN!"  181 

deepest  grief.  Appropriate  services  were  everywhere 
held  in  honor  of  the  country's  illustrious  dead — for 
expression  of  the  people's  unbounded  grief.  Boston, 
New  York,  Philadelphia  and  other  cities  which  but  a 
few  weeks  before  were  red  with  expressions  of  victory 
and  joy,  were  now  black  with  insignia  of  the  deepest 
grief.  Men  and  women  received  and  breathed  the 
inspiration  of  the  hour;  and  the  spirit  of  prophecy 
caught  the  rebel  mind,  and  rebel  ladies  and  gentlemen, 
before  they  were  aware,  were  swelling  the  airs, — the  an 
thems  of  the  Republic, — chanting  the  dirge  to  our  fallen 
illustrious  hero ; — and  they  too  were  among  the  prophets. 

I  hastened  to  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  and  there  in 
speech,  in  song, — with  appropriate  services  we  poured 
out  our  sorrow — "Hoiv  are  the  MIGHTY  FALLEN!"  In 
Boston  during  the  May  meetings  I  listened  to  the  ever- 
memorable 

ORATION  or  HON.  CHARLES  SUMNER, 
in  celebration  of  the  life  and  death  of  America's  noblest 
son,  before  fifteen  thousand  people  in  Music  Hall. 

And  here  I  will  close  this  record,  this  history 
of  my  life,  for  there  is  no  need  to  dwell  upon  my  con 
tinued  work  for  the  good  of  the  Africo-Arnerican 
people,  and  my  private  sorrows  and  joys  cannot  interest 
the  world.  I  am  old  and  lonely,  and  looking  back  upon 
the  past,  I 


APPEKDIX. 


June,  1877,  found  roe  again  laboring  for  the  good 
of  the  Africo- American  people.  The  Providence  (R. 
J.)  Journal  said: — 

THE  ELEVATION  or  THE  COLORED  RACE. — Mr.  William 
Troy,  of  Richmond,  Va.,  and  Mr.  John  Gains,  of  Boston, 
formerly  of  Petersburg,  Va.,  addressed  an  audience  of 
colored  persons  in  the  vestry  of  the  Congdon  Street  church, 
last  evening,  upon  the  elevation  of  the  colored  people  in  the 
South.  They  took  the  ground  that  if  the  colored  people 
are  to  reach  a  higher  plane  of  life  than  at  present  exists 
among  them  in  the  Southern  states,  they  must  attain  to  it 
by  their  own  exertions,  aided  by  those  of  their  colored 
brethren  in  the  North.  They  regarded  the  colored  men  and 
women  in  the  North  morally  bound  by  the  ties  of  blood,  to 
take  hold  of  this  work,  and  believed  further  that  they  were 
called  of  God  to  go  South,  and  to  teach,  preach  and  set  good 
examples  in  all  departments  of  life,  by  which  the  freedmen 
may  profit,  for  their  future  good. 

The  meeting  was  held  in  the  interests  of  the  Moore 
Street  Industrial  Society  of  Richmond,  Va.,  of  which  Mr. 
Troy  is  vice-president,  and  it  is  proposed  to  form  an  auxil 
iary  society  of  colored  people  in  this  city  at  an  early  day. 
Rev.  Calvin  Fairbank,  of  Richmond,  Va.,  Superintendent 
and  General  Agent  of  the  Moore  Street  Society,  who  was 

183 


184  APPENDIX. 

for  more  than  seventeen  years  a  prisoner  in  Kentucky,  and 
received  a  great  number  of  lashes  for  aiding  fugitive  slaves 
to  escape,  was  present,  and  occupied  a  seat  upon  the  plat 
form.  Previous  to  the  close  of  the  meeting  resolutions 
were  adopted,  in  substance  as  follows: 

First — That  in  view  of  the  needy  condition  of  the  people  of 
Richmond,  Va.,  and  the  comparative  ability  of  the  people  of  the 
Northern  States,  a  very  moderate  united  effort  upon  the  part  of  the 
people  of  the  latter  States  would  greatly  relieve  the  people  in  the 
needy  districts  of  the  South,  and  bring  joy  to  the  hearts  of  their 
friends. 

Second — That  we  feel  the  utmost  confidence  in  the  Moore  Street 
Industrial  Missionary  Society  of  Richmond,  Va.,  as  represented  by 
its  worthy  and  able  Superintendent  and  General  Agent,  Rev.  Calvin 
Fairbank,  and  Rev.  Wm.  Troy,  its  vice-president;  and  we  hereby 
pledge  our  hearty  co-operation  therewith  in  attaining  the  end  it  pro 
poses,  viz.;  the  elevation  and  cultivation  of  the  people  of  color  in 
that  vicinity  in  the  arts  and  sciences  and  the  industrial  avocations. 

Another  meeting  will  be  held  at  the  Pend  Street  Free 
Baptist  church  next  Monday  evening,  for  the  purpose  of 
taking  steps  toward  the  organization  of  an  auxiliary  society. 

And  in  my  loneliness,  and  looking  back  upon  the 
sunny  days  of  the  past,  I  wrote,  through  the  Newport 
(Rhode  Island)  Daily  News: 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Daily  News : 

I  am  pleased  that  in  taking  account  of  the  events  of  the 
week  the  journalists  for  the  people  have  not  forgotten 
the  history  of  our  past,  which  has  moulded  and  constituted 
the  present,  nor  the  eventful  experience  of  some  of  us  yet 
rejoicing  in  its  happy  results  to  the  country  and  the  people. 

At  this  date,  looking  back  to  the  time  when  my  boy 
heart  bounded  with  hot  blood  for  poor  suffering  humanity, 
the  uprising  public  sentiment  against  an  institution  which 


APPENDIX.  185 

had  brought  mildew  upon  the  social,  political  and  moral 
'condition  of  a  great  section  of  our  country,— the  goal  just 
within  my  reach,  the  voluntary  sacrifice  I  made  upon  the 
altar  of  duty,  the  novel  events  that  have  attended  my  life  up 
to  the  present,  I  do  not  wonder  that  it  has  often  been  said 
of  it  that  " truth  is  stranger  than  fiction  " 

I  hold  in  my  hand  a  clipping  from  the  Liberator  of 
November,  1851,  containing  a  letter  of  my  own  published 
in  Frederic  Douglass'  paper.  I  hold  in  my  hand  a  clip 
ping  from  the  Chicago  Tribune  of  1864,  rehearsing  the 
sacrifice,  the  tragedy,  the  outrage,  the  long,  long-continued 
suffering  in  prison,  the  constancy  of  woman  and  the  "roman 
tic  history" — that  through  those  long,  hopeless  years  when 
my  life  was  covered  like  the  dead  beneath  the  wave,  she 
having  left  her  own  New  England  home  to  watch  over  me, 
waited  and  watched  from  the  Ohio  side  the  ebb  and  flow  of 
the  tide  of  public  sentiment,  ministered  to  my  comfort, 
pleaded  my  cause,  and  when  released  as  a  result  of  the 
national  struggle  in  1864  received  me  to  "nurse  me  back  to 
life  again." 

I  hold  in  my  hand  a  clipping  from  the  Rochester 
Democrat  of  January,  1866 — "  Seventeen  years  struck  out  of 
a  man's  life,  during  which  his  classmates  have  entered  the 
world  and  built  up  fame  and  fortune,  is  of  itself  a  very 
serious  matter;  but,  when  you  make  them  seventeen  years 
of  toil  as  hard  as  ever  slave  performed,  and  torture  as  keen 
and  continuous  as  was  ever  inflicted  upon  a  prisoner 

"  Since  man  first  pent  his  fellow  men 
Like  brutes  within  an  iron  den," 

it  becomes  a  martyrdom  more  heroic  than  his  who  falls  at 
the  cannon's  mouth:"  and,  "He  kept  an  account  every  day 
on  the  wall  of  his  cell,  and  thus  knows  that  he  received  in 


186  APPENDIX. 

all  about  thirty-five  thousand  stripes."  And,  O,  I  recall 
distinctly  the  manner,  the  animus,  the  causeless  cause  for 
thirty-five  thousand  one  hundred  and  five  stripes  during 
eight  years,  with  the  strap  of  half-tanned  leather  from  one- 
fourth  to  three-eighths  of  an  inch  in  thickness,  eighteen. 
-  inches  in  length  and  one  and  a  half  inch  in  width,  and 
attached  to  a  convenient  handle, — on  my  bare  body — with 
all  the  might  and  malice  of  a  human  brute,  simply  for  the 
ostensible  reason  that  I  did  not  execute  the  task  assigned 
me,  when  it  was  emphatically  out  of  my  power.  Says  the 
Democrat,  "  And  when  he  described  his  daily  round  of  life 
there — the  cruelties  of  the  taskmaster,  the  hopelessness  of 
escape  or  release,  and  the  strong  temptation  to  suicide,  his, 
words  rose  into  eloquence  which  is  possible  only  when  a 
speaker  describes  what  he  himself  has  experienced."  He 
says,  "horrible  and  heart  sickening!" 

Then,  here  is  "Pharaoh  out-done,"  from  the  American 
Baptist,  of  1864,  and  here  is  "Died in  his  cell,"  by  a  reporter, 
Anderson  Elijah  "Whipped  blind  and  senseless."  And  it 
was  true. 

Now  I  hold  a  letter,  "O  darling,  I  shall  get  well; — shall 
be  as  well  as  anybody;  and  shall  bring  up  our  boy."  And 
now  the  loving  letter  of  my  precious  boy  of  nine  years,, 
signed  "Your  loving  Callie." 

And  now, — Hampshire  Gazette,  Williamsburg, — Death 
of  Mrs.  Fairbank, — Mundana,  wife  of  Calvin  Fairbank — 
after  a  year's  sickness, —quick  consumption, — died  in  her 
chair,  suddenly.  Mrs.  Fairbank  wan  one  of  the  finest 
of  women — patient,  self-sacrificing,  tireless  in  effort,  unceas 
ing  in  care.  September  29,  1876."  These  are  all  facts  to 
me.  But  to  the  world  before  the  stage  they  must  seem 
more  like  fiction.  Especially  to  persons  below  the  age  of 


APPENDIX.  187 

twenty-five,  this,  with  the  institution  with  which  it  was  con 
nected  must  appear  like  a  tale  that  is  told. 

Now,  again,  I  am  called  into  the  field  for  that  same 
people  for  whom  I  have  been  willing  in  the  past  to  risk  so 
much  of  time,  and  position,  and  name,  and  liberty,  and 
health,  and  even  life  itself.  In  noticing  our  effort,  I  see 
that  it  is  recognized  as  in  the  main  a  Baptist  effort.  It  is 
not  denominational  at  all.  There  are  among  its  officers  and 
board  of  directors  people  of  all  Protestant  bodies;  and  some 
of  no  denomination ;  all  aiming  at  education  in  every  depart 
ment  of  human  life  and  character.  The  purpose  is,  1st, 
To  furnish  a  school  for  the  many  poor  who  are  without 
school,  there  being  not  enough  in  the  city ;  2d,  To  form  a 
nucleus  of  education  in  the  industrial  avocations,  also,  as 
soon  as  may  be;  and  3d,  To  secure  a  model  institution  in 
addition  to  those  already  doing  their  work  in  training  those  '' 
who  are  to  lead  society.  Yours  truly, 

CALVIN  FAIRBANK. 

P.  S.     Our  institution  is  the  Moore  Street  Missionary 
Society  of  Kichmond,  Virginia,  and  situated  within  the  city* 


The  Soldier's   Award. 

BY    REV.    CALVIN    FAIRBANK. 

The  sentinel  stood  at  his  post, 

Nor  heeded  the  storm  and  cold; 
But  paced  his  beat 
Through  snow  and  sleet, 

Cautiously  treading  with  weary  feet 

'  Till  the  reveille  was  told. 


188  APPENDIX. 

The  storm  swept  fiercely  on: — 
The  wife  and  darlings  three 

Were  thinking — Where 

Does  the  soldier  share 
Shelter  and  rest,  or  the  bleak  wild  air  ? 
And  where  shall  his  burial  be  ? 

The  sound  of  the  battle's  horn 
Rang  shrill  on  the  slumbering  host, 

And  that  home  was  bright 

All  that  anxious  night, 
Watching  the  march  and  the  terrible  fight 
Of  the  soldier  they  loved  most. 

Where,  now,  are  the  men  of  "Lang  Syne?" 
And  the  women  so  faithful  and  brave  ? 

When  the  storm  beats  high 

In  the  soldier's  sky, 

As  he  tenderly  breathes  a  homeward  sigh 
On  the  mouth  of  a  soldier's  grave. 

See!  plying  the  busy  thread 

By  a  thousand  hearth-stones  bright: 

And  the  air  was  still, 

Save  the  pratt'ling  rill, — 
Or  the  town-clock  o'er  the  distant  hill 
Strikes  the  signal  of  the  night. 

'  Twas  one  by  the  signal  stroke ; 
And  the  weary,  faithful,  brave, 

Were  plying  the  thread, 

For  the  living  or  dead, 
To  pillow  the  patriot  soldier's  head, 
In  his  tent,  or  in  his  grave. 


APPENDIX.  189 

Hark!  Hark!  What  means  such  haste  ? 
The  battle  is  high! — they  fight! 

Quick! — sound  the  alarm! 

Rouse  ye,  and  arm! 

From  cottage  and  plain;  from  store  and  farm, 
To  the  front!  to  the  front  to-night! 
Now  holds  high  carnival 
The  fiend  of  the  battle's  ire, 

Whose  fingers  in  blood 

From  the  sat'rd  flood, 
Which  sinks  away  in  the  satured  mud, 
Swell  the  dirge  o'er  the  patriot  pyre. 

On  that  victorious  field 

'  Gainst  treason's  remorseless  strife, 

Lie  husband  and  sire, 

Piled,  stretched  in  the  mire, 
While  the  joy  at  home  wait  and  gaze  in  the  fire, 
His  cherubs  and  faithful  wife. 
The  smoke  of  the  battle  is  gone: — 
There's  a  hearth-stone,  a  chair  and  a  name; 

But  the  hearth- stone  and  chair — 

There's  a  vacancy  there; 
And  the  sleeve  which  hangs  armless  there  no  arm 

to  wear, 

No  wealth,  but  his  valor  and  fame. 
He  has  rescued  the  flag  of  the  free, — 
Has  restored  to  his  country  her  fame; 

But  her  glory  and  power 

Shall  they  fade  like  a  flower  ? 
And  her  watch-word  and  signal  be  changed  in  an 

hour? 
And  liberty  left  but  a  name  ? 


190  APPENDIX. 

His  award — what  of  that  ?    Shall  it  be 
That  his  crutch  and  sleeve  are  no  more 

To  be  seen  at  the  gate 

Of  the  temple  of  State; 
But  the  foeman  who  smote   him  in  combat  shall 

wait 
Where  the  patriot  waited  of  yore  ? 

God  forbid  that  the  miscreant  arm 
That  periled  our  flag  on  that  day — 

Nor  a  traitor's  h'and 

Of  the  rebel  band 

Shall  guard  the  doors  of  this  sacred  land, 
Or  bear  her  glory  away. 

But  the  hero — the  citizen  leal 
Keep  vigils  from  sun  to  the  sea; 

And  our  watch- word  shall  stand 

As  a  sign  o'er  the  land; 

And  our  segis  of  power  be  borne  by  the  hand 
Of  loyalty,  faithful  and  free. 


A  Much-Whipped  Clergyman. 

New  York  Letter  to  Indianapolis  News. 

4  A  man  of  venerable  aspect  walked  past  John  L.  Sullivan 
in  Broadway.  The  contrast  in  physique  and  apparent  men 
tality  was  vast. 

"I    say,   John,"  remarked  a  companion  of   the   prize 
fighter,  "there  goes  the  most  whipped  man  on  earth." 

"Has  that  old  fellow  been  a  professional?"    Sullivan 
asked,  a  little  disdainfully. 


APPENDIX.  191 

"Yes,  a  professional  clergyman,"  was  the  reply.  "He 
is  Calvin  Fairbank,  and  he  has  received  over  thirty  thousand 
lashes  on  his  bare  back." 

There  was  no  exaggeration  in  that  statement.  Fairbank 
was  involved  in  the  escape  of  nearly  half  a  hundred  negro 
slaves  from  Kentucky.  He  was  convicted  of  forty -seven  of 
these  acts — or  crimes,  the  law  said — and  sentenced  to  im 
prisonment  and  whipped  separately  for  each.  Between 
1844  and  1862,  when  Lincoln  released  him,  he  was  regularly 
whipped  every  month.  He  now  lives  at  Angelica,  N.  Y., 
but  sometimes  comes  to  town  to  visit  his  fellow  ministers  at 
the  Methodist  Book  Concern.  His  official  whippings  were 
only  severe  at  the  outset,  and  during  the  last  ten  years  of 
his  imprisonment  amounted  to  hardly  anything  in  physical 
torture,  although  degrading  to  his  pride. 


May  14,  1890.— After  all  these  years  of  toil  I  hold 
in  my  hand  a  card: — 

MR.  AND  MRS.  GEORGE  W.  WALKER 

REQUEST  THE  PLEASURE  OF  YOUR  COMPANY  AT  THE  MARRIAGE 
OF  THEIR  DAUGHTER 

SARAH 

TO 

CALVIN  C.  FAIRBANK, 
WEDNESDAY  AFTEBNOON,  MAY  TWENTY-FIEST, 

AT  THEEE  O'CLOCK, 

AT   THEIB  EESIDENOE 

SAYBROOK,  CONNECTICUT. 

1890. 

My   life,    so   far,    has   been   a  success.       When    I 
entered  the  field  for  the  oppressed,  I  counted  on  re- 


192  APPENDIX. 

proach,  poverty,  and  final  triumph;  and  expected  to 
"suffer  the  loss  of  all  things,  that  I  might  win  Christ. 
I  have  fought  a  good  fight.  I  have  [nearly]  finished 
my  course.  I  have  kept  the  faith.  Henceforth  there 
is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness." 


STATEMENT  BY  LAURA  S.  HAVILAND. 

It  has  been  the  expressed  wish  of  the  author  of 
this  little  book,  Calvin  Fairbank,  and  his  friends  that 
I  should  add  a  few  incidents  in  regard  to  his  mar 
tyrdom;  for  such  it  was,  as  truly  as  Elijah  P.  Love  joy, 
Charles  T.  Torr^r,  and  many  others  who  suffered  and 
died  on  slavery's  bloody  altar,  for  obeying  the  "Higher 
Law"  which  they  conscientiously  believed  to  be  God's 
law  of  Eternal  Eight.  Fifty,  forty,  or  thirty  years 
ago,  /K  cost  everything  to  the  few  who  dared  occupy 
this  broad  standpoint,  and  carry  out  in  all  their 
life  work,  these  grand,  heaven-born  principles.  It 
cost  "Life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,"  to 
those  who  dared  advocate  the  "Fatherhood  of  God, 
and  the  Brotherhood  of  man." 

In  retrospect,  this  vast  field  rises  before  me  a  won 
derful  panorama,  from  ocean  to  ocean,  from  the  lakes 
to  the  gulf,  with  its  ever-changing  dissolving  views. 
Here  and  there  a  cyclone  appeared  in  our  moral 
horizon;  darker,  and  darker  still  the  portentous  clouds 
overshadowed  our  beloved  country.  Amid  these  clouds, 
is  193 


194  APPENDIX. 

a  mysterious  letter  fell  into  Levi  Coffin's  hands.  He 
took  it  to  Dr.  Brisbane,  Edward  Harwood,  Lawyer 
Jollif,  and  others,  but  no  one  could  define  it;  but  as  it 
came  from  Louisville  jail,  all  decided  that  some  one 
was  in  trouble.  But  who  ?  was  the  question.  It  was 
signed  six,  and  eight  dots,  with,  "These  dots  spell  my 
name."  As  I  had  been  on  College  Hill  a  few  weeks, 
caring  for  a  sick  lady,  and  returned  to  Levi's  (in  whose 
family  I  made  my  home  four  years,  about  half  the  time 
nursing  the  sick,  the  other  half  aiding  escaping  slaves) 
—"There,  Laura,  is  a  problem  for  thee  to  solve — 
we've  all  had  our  hand  at  it." 

And  that  apostle  of  freedom  brought  me  the  open 
letter. 

I  said,  "  Calvin  Fairbank,  that  fills  the  dots. 
Poor  man,  he's  there  in  trouble!" 

"I  did  not  know,"  said  Levi,  "that  he  was  any 
where  in  this  part  of  the  country." 

"He  called  here  in  thy  absence,  on  his  way  to  take 
his  father's  remains  back  home;  and  some  poor  slave 
has  appealed  to  him  for  help;  and  he  never  turns  one 
away." 

A  few  weeks  later,  a  colored  man  who  had  been  in 
Louisville  jail  under  suspicion  of  being  a  slave,  but 
had  proven  his  freedom,  and  been  released,  came  to 
Levi's  home.  By  him  Calvin  sent  word  that  he  was 


APPENDIX.  195 

suffering  from  cold,  and  unless  he  could  have  quilt, 
blanket,  and  woolen  underwear  he  must  perish. 
Weather  very  cold.  The  river  frozen  over  in  some 
places.  This  colored  man  told  us  Calvin  had  only  a 
pile  of  filthy  straw  in  his  cell.  This  was  truly  distress 
ing.  Under  circumstances  of  great  excitement  over 
him,  they  had  found  out  who  he  was,  and  four  weeks 
previously  Williams  from  Massachusetts  was  hung  near 
Baltimore  by  a  mob,  without  judge  or  jury,  because  he 
followed  a  kidnaper  of  two  little  girls,  of  free  parents  in 
Pennsylvania,  who  were  enticed  by  a  peddler,  who  had 
sold  them  in  Baltimore,  Maryland.  Great  excitement 
over  that  occurrence.  And  but  two  weeks  before,  a 
Mr.  Conklin  was  overtaken  in  Yincennes,  Indiana,  with 
the  wife  and  four  children  of  an  escaped  slave,  and  all 
were  taken  to  a  boat  going  down  the  river ;  but  as  they 
were  near  being  overtaken  for  kidnaping  Conklin  from 
Indiana  they  bound  him  in  ropes  and  threw  him 
in  the  river,  where  he  was  found  a  few  days  later. 
Here,  too,  was  a  source  of  great  excitement  in  both 
sections  of  our  country,  North  and  South. 

Now,  with  all  these  dark  clouds  over  us,  who  would 
be  safe  in  relieving  our  suffering  brother  Rev.  Calvin 
Fairbank?  This  was  a  question  hard  to  solve  from 
human  standpoint.  After  a  few  days  of  prayer,  I 
reached  the  conclusion  to  go  with  the  unerring  Guide 


196  APPENDIX. 

who  said  to  those  on  the  right,  "Naked,  and  ye  clothed 
me:  I  was  sick  and  ye  visited  me:  I  was  in  prison  and 
ye  came  unto  me." 

"Levi  and  Catharine,  I  am  going  to  Louisville  jail, 
and  relieve  our  brother  Calvin  Fairbank.  I  am  con 
fident  I  shall  safely  return." 

"I  don't  know,  Laura,  but  thou  art  the  very  one  to 
go,"  said  Levi  in  his  careful,  moderate  way. 

"  And  I  have  a  trunk  and  a  warm  quilt  to  put  in  it," 
rejoined  Catharine. 

Levi  called  on  Captain  Barker,  who  gave  half -fare 
ticket  on  Ben  Franklin  No.  2  to  leave  next  day  at  two 
p.  M.  Friends  filled  the  trunk,  paid  my  fare,  and  sent 
fourteen  dollars  to  Calvin  for  a  little  pocket  change. 
Melancthon  Henry  (the  son  of  Patrick  Henry  by  a 
slave  girl,  who  was  freed  by  him,  with  the  child,  and 
left  by  will,  a  nice  little  property),  when  he  placed 
three  dollars  in  my  hand,  said,  "I  know  you  are  going 
into  the  lions'  den,  and  I  pray  they  may  not  close  their 
teeth  upon  you.  Be  as  wise  as  the  serpent  without  the 
poison,  and  that  is  harmless  as  the  dove." 

At  last  Levi  called  on  Dr.  Brisbane,  who  expressed 
great  surprise  that  any  one  knowing  all  the  circum 
stances  should  have  given  me  a  word  of  encouragement. 
"For  it  will  never  do  for  her  to  go  at  this  juncture. 
Eemember  Williams,  and  Conklin  !  !  And  very  likely 


APPENDIX.  197 

she  will  share  the  same  fate.  If  she  goes,  I  doubt 
whether  we  shall  ever  see  her  again.  Tell  her  she 
must  not  go.  I  fear  it  will  be  at  the  peril  of  her  life." 

Levi  did  the  errand. 

"I  see  no  geographical  lines  drawn  in  my  Bible, 
and  I  am  free  to  go." 

.Captain  Barker  gave  me  a  note  of  introduction  to 
Colonel  Buckner,  the  jailor,  that  I  presented  the  follow 
ing  morning,  before  sunrise,  and  was  politely  received, 
and  introduced  to  his  wife  and  daughter;  also  the 
Colonel's  wife's  sister,  and  her  daughter  (from  Boston 
on  a  visit),  making  quite  a  social  circle. 

I  at  once  made  my  errand  known,  and  delivered  the 
trunk  to  the  Colonel,  who  looked  it  over — not  that  he 
expected  to  find  anything  improper  for  a  prisoner  to 
receive,  but  this  was  his  duty  as  a  keeper  (rather 
apologetically).  I  also  made  known  my  prospect  of 
returning  at  four  P.  M.  on  the  same  boat. 

"But  why  return  so  soon?" 

"Because  my  errand  will  have  been  accomplished; 
my  ticket  takes  me  back  free." 

"I'll  see  the  sheriff  and  find  out  if  I  can  take  you 
in  to  Fairbank.  As  there  was  great  excitement  over 
his  arrest,  I  dare  not  take  you  in  without  his  approval." 

He  soon  returned  with  the  report  that  the  sheriff 
was  out  in  the  country  for  two  or  three  days. 


198  APPENDIX. 

"You  certainly  ought  not  to  leave  without  seeing 
Fairbank,  and  I  reckon  there  will  be  no  difficulty  as 
soon  as  I  can  see  him,  and  you  can  stay  with  us  just 
as  well  as  not;  it  shall  not  cost  you  a  cent;  it  is  just  as 
free  as  air." 

I  told  him  my  friends  would  be  there  when  the  boat 
was  due  to  meet  me. 

"But  you  can  write  them  a  note  and  I'll  take  it  to 
the  boat  myself." 

I  consented  for  Calvin's  sake. 

During  three  days'  waiting  for  the  sheriff,  great 
pains  was  taken  to  secure  a  private  interview,  by  notes 
between  Calvin  and  myself.  A  prisoner  was  released, 
and  pretended  to  be  in  confidence  with  Fairbank,  and 
brought  me  the  name  of  the  place  where  was  Tamar's 
trunk  with  valuable  articles  that  he  wished  me  to  for 
ward  to  her;  and  wanted  to  know  if  I  knew  of  such  and 
such  names.  I  told  him  I  knew  nothing  of  those 
names,  neither  could  I  have  anything  to  do  about  the 
trunk.  I  told  him  I  did  not  know  but  the  girl  had  been 
arrested  with  Fairbank,  until  I  came  here.  (I  learned 
afterward  that  Shotwell,  the  man  who  lost  the  girl,  had 
paid  him  three  hundred  dollars  to  do  all  he  could  to 
find  Tamar. )  After  failing  to  get  any  clue  from  me, 
he  went  on  to  Indiana  to  meet  another  failure. 

During  this  waiting  to  see  the  sheriff,  great  effort 


APPENDIX.  199 

was  made  to  convince  me  of  the  wickedness  of  aboli 
tion  principles.  One  appalling  feature  was,  my  aboli 
tion  principles  would  lead  to  amalgamation!  "As  for 
that,  amalgamation  belongs  on  your  side  of  the  house. 
You  have  more  than  five  hundred  cases  of  amalgama 
tion  to  our  one  in  the  North.  You  know  there  are  those 
who  claim  as  property  their  own  flesh  and  blood.  And 
this  is  found  here  in  your  own  city  Louisville.  In  this 
statement  I  am  fearless  of  successful  contradiction." 

Giving  his  shoulders  a  shrug,  the  Colonel  replied, 
UI  know  it  is  a  most  woful  fact." 

One  argument  among  the  many  he  referred  me 
to,  was  of  a  slave  man  who  was  enticed  away  from 
Mr.  Adams  of  South  Carolina,  who  spent  the  evening 
with  us  in  the  parlor,  to  whom  I  was  introduced.  He 
seemed  quite  a  jolly  sort  of  a  man,  and  it  was  no  wonder, 
after  finding  his  Jack  and  the  "pile  of  money"  (as  he 
called  it)  in  the  jailor's  hands.  The  next  day,  Colonel 
Buckner,  pointing  to  a  black  man  in  his  yard,  said,— 

"Now,  I  want  to  show  you  just  what  your  abolition 
principles  lead  to.  That  negro  Jack  belongs  to  Mr. 
Adams,  and  a  man  went  to  him  alone,  and  asked  him  if 
he  would  not  like  to  be  free,  and  be  his  own  master. 
Jack  said  yes.  *  Then  you  come  to  me  by  that  big 
tree  near  the  road,  about  eleven  o'clock  to-night,  and 
~se  can  travel  all  night  and  lay  by  in  the  day,  and  I'll 


200  APPENDIX. 

take  you  through  to  Canada.  There  you'll  be  a  free 
man.'  And  the  plan  was  followed.  After  they  had 
traveled  two  or  three  nights,  he  proposed  to  Jack,  to 
allow  him  to  assume  to  be  his  master,  and  let  him  sell 
him  in  the  next  town;  then  he  could  run  away  again, 
and  he  would  watch  for  him  behind  some  big  tree  or 
log;  then  he  would  give  him  half  the  money  he  got  for 
him,  and  that  would  give  him  quite  a  start  in  his  new 
home  in  Canada.  This  plan  was  adopted,  and  this  gave 
Jack  quite  a  pile  of  money.  But  this  was  not  the  end 
of  sales.  By  the  time  they  got  here  he  had  sold  Jack 
seven  times.  After  he  had  been  here  in  jail  about  three 
days,  Jack  told  me  all  about  it.  And  I  took  charge  of 
his  pile  of  money,  and  wrote  his  master,  and  he  just 
got  here  yesterday,  and  he's  going  to  go  around  town 
with  Jack  to  see  if  he  can  get  sight  of  the  rogue  that 
enticed  him  away." 

After   listening    to  his    story  all    through,   said  I, 
"  That  is  not  the  work  of  an  Abolitionist." 

"  Oh,  yes,  he  told  Jack  he  was  an  Abolishioner." 
"  That  may  be,  but  that  man  was  a  rogue  of  the 
darkest  hue,  and  ought  to  have  boen  here  in  jail  instead 
of  Jack.  You  can  see  for  yourself,  if  he  had  been  true 
to  Jack,  he  would  have  left  the  river  before  reaching 
this  place,  and  have  been  011  their  way  to  Canada;  but 
110 — he  was  taking  him  down  the  river  to  a  more 


APPENDIX.  201 

southern  market,  where  he  would  have  sold  Jack  for 
the  last  time,  taken  possession  of  Jack's  'pile  of  money,' 
.and  fled  to  parts  unknown.  I  care  not  what  he  called 
Mmself,  he  was  a  hypocrite,  and  a  villain,  and  is  worthy 
of  severe  punishment." 

On  this  Sabbath  morning  Bert  Franklin  No.  2  was 
in  port,  and  I  was  ready  to  leave,  and  the  Colonel  had 
heard  nothing  from  the  sheriff  yet. 

"  I  do  not  like  to  see  you  go  without  seeing  Fair- 
bank,  and  I've  a  great  mind  to  risk  it  any  how.  Come 
on." 

And  we  soon  stood  before  the  forty  slaves  who 
were  there,  not  because  they  had  committed  anything 
wrong,  but  were  placed  there  by  a  trader,  for  safe 
keeping,  until  he  had  gathered  up  his  gang  for  the  lower 
market. 

Calling  for  Fairbank,  as  I  met  him  amid  all  this 
crushing  bitterness,  with  these  forty  sad  faces  before 
us,  I  could  not  withhold  tears.  He  was  brave  and  said, 
"Let  us  keep  good  courage.  I  think  I  shall  be  released 
when  the  trial  comes  off.  I  want  you  to  see  my  lawyer, 
Mr.  Thruston." 

"But  his  figures,  seven  hundred  dollars,  are  too 
high  for  us  in  Cincinnati  to  reach ;  and  I  am  not  pre 
pared  to  indemnify  a  lawyer,  and  have  no  liberty  what 
ever  to  do  it." 


202  APPENDIX. 

"But  he  may  throw  off  a  few  hundred  dollars,  if  you 
see  him.  Don't  go  without  seeing  Mr.  Thruston." 

To  add  to  these  pleading  words  while  pressing  my 
hand  in  both  of  his,  Colonel  Buckner  with  tearful  eyes 
said, 

"  Mrs.  Haviland,  I  reckon  it's  your  duty  to  stop 
over,  and  see  Fairbank's  lawyer;  you  can  remain  with 
us,  or  go  to  Dr.  Fields  as  Fairbank  suggests ;  and  wait 
for  the  boat  to  make  another  trip." 

As  I  felt  he  would  be  sacrificed,  as  others  had  beenr 
and  probably  this  would  be  the  last  favor  he  would 
ever  receive,  I  gave  way,  and  told  him  I  would  remain, 
and  see  his  lawyer. 

As  the  time  had  already  been  extended  beyond  the 
limit  given,  and  we  were  about  to  leave,  Calvin  looked 
at  four  men  standing  near  us,  and  asked  if  I  knew 
them.  I  nodded  a  recognition,  but  no  word  could  be 
spoken.  They  were  self -freed  slaves  for  years,  but  had 
been  captured.  They  were  in  tears.  As  we  were 
passing  out,  the  Colonel  asked  if  I  could  go  to  their 
apartments  alone. 

"Certainly." 

The  officers  beckoned  to  see  me  a  moment,  and  I 
passed  on  and  met  their  slave  man. 

"Did  you  (in  undertone)  see  Fairbank?"  I  nodded 
assent. 


APPENDIX  203 

"Glorious!"  (hardly  above  a  whisper). 

As  I  was  passing  through  the  hall,  their  slave  Mary, 
in  a  whisper  I  could  hear,  "Did  you  see  him?"  As  I 
nodded  an  assent — "Good!  good!" 

A  few  minutes  elapsed,  and  the  jailor  came  in  tremb 
ling,  and  pale  as  a  sick  man,  and  said, 

"  Mrs.  Haviland,  I  fear  I  shall  not  be  able  to  pro 
tect  you  longer.  These  officers  are  for  arresting  you 
at  once.  They  asked  if  I  did  not  see  the  effect  upon 
those  forty  slaves,  the  moment  that  lady  entered  the 
jail.  I  told  them  I  did  not,  as  my  attention  was 
directed  to  you  and  Fairbank.  They  said  it  was  like 
an  electric  shock,  upon  those  slaves;  and  then  those 
four  men  just  stood  there  and  cried.  '  They  know  her, 
and  it's  very  plain  to  be  seen,  that  she  is  a  dangerous 
person  and  ought  to  be  in  this  jail,  as  well  as  Fairbank.'  '' 

"  Colonel  Buckner,  I  am  just  as  safe  here  as  if  in 
my  room  in  Cincinnati.  The  God  of  Daniel  is  here, 
and  if  your  officers  should  arrest  me  at  this  hour,  you 
would  not  keep  me  in  your  jail  three  days.  You  know 
my  business  here.  Should  they  arrest  me  this  moment, 
I  should  not  be  the  least  excited.  I  have  nothing  to 
fear  whatever." 

And  he  became  more  calm,  and  remarked,  "  It  is  a 
glorious  thing  to  feel  like  this.  There  has  been  a  great 
deal  of  excitement ;  they  had  you  reported  in  the  papers 


204  APPENDIX. 

as  Delia  Webster  [  a  lady  who  had  been  arrested  for 
the  same  offense  in  that  state].  I  got  a  gentleman  who 
knew  her,  to  call  and  see  you  the  other  evening.  He 
told  me  as  he  passed  out,  that  he  would  call  on  those 
editors  and  disabuse  them  at  once,  and  tell  them  there 
was  nothing  to  fear  from  Mrs.  Haviland.  And  he  did 
quiet  them.  But  I  reckon  you  had  better  go  imme 
diately  to  Jeffersonville,  and  not  cross  over  on  this  side 
on  any  account.  It  will  not  be  safe  for  you  to  set  foot 
on  Kentucky  soil." 

He  had  suggested  going  with  me  to  the  ferry,  but 
said,  "It  would  be  safer  for  you  to  go  alone,  as  these 
officers  now  know  you  are  with  me." 

"  Very  well;  "  and  I  left  the  troubled  jailor.  As  I 
passed  through  a  company  of  men  in  front  of  a  large 
hotel,  I  heard  one  say, 

"Great  excitement  in  town  to-day." 

"Yes,  sir;  you'll  see  a  squad  of  men  at  every  street 
corner.  The  whole  city  seems  to  be  astir  this  morning." 

I  smiled,  and  said  to  myself,  you  have  no  idea  it  is 
this  little  rusty  woman,  you  are  making  this  flurry 
over. 

After  crossing  the  river,  I  inquired  for  Dr.  Fields, 
and  was  shown  the  house.  As  I  reached  the  gate,  I 
inquired  of  a  company  standing  on  the  porch,  if  this 
was  Dr.  Fields'  residence. 


APPENDIX.  205 

"Yes,  I'm  a  Jason.  Come  on,  Mrs.  Haviland. 
We've  been  looking  for  you  daily,  for  the  week  past." 

"How  is  this?" 

"  We'll  show  you  a  file  of  papers,  with  notes  of 
threats  each  day  since  you  have  been  in  Louisville." 

I  told  him  all  these  had  been  carefully  kept  from 
me,  until  I  was  about  leaving,  when  the  jailor  got 
frightened  and  told  me  not  to  set  foot  again  on  Kentucky 
soil,  and  he  would  see  Mr.  Thruston  and  send  him  over 
to  see  me. 

"  The  jailor  lied,  for  he  knew  he  had  been  sick  two 
weeks.  Also  lied  about  the  sheriff,  for  he  was  there  all 
the  time,  and  I  know  it." 

I  sent  a  note  to  Lawyer  Thrustoii,  and  he  returned 
the  message,  to  come  and  see  him,  and  he  would  stand 
between  me  and  all  harm. 

The  doctor  gave  me  an  umbrella  to  shield  me  from 
the  jail,  as  well  as  the  storm,  as  I  had  to  pass  the  jail  to 
go  to  Lawyer  Thruston 's,  who  told  me  to  collect  for 
him  whatever  was  convenient,  and  he  would  do  the 
best  he  could  for  Calvin  Fairbank,  and  I  returned  to 
our  "Jason"  without  harm. 

The  doctor  (who,  like  Dr.  Brisbane,  and  James  G. 
Birney,  had  set  his  slaves  free,  and  moved  out  of  Ken 
tucky  on  account  of  slavery)  and  family  were  so  kind 
it  seemed  like  an  oasis  in  a  desert. 


206  APPENDIX. 

When  the  boat  made  her  trip  the  second  time  I  was 
ready,  and  was  met  by  Levi  Coffin  at  the  wharf. 

""Well,  Laura,  we've  had  a  time  over  thee.  Dr. 
Brisbane  and  James  G.  Birney  have  been  sick  over 
thee.  The  doctor  has  been  so  distressed  he  could 
hardly  eat  or  sleep." 

They  appointed  a  reception  at  a  private  house,  and 
we  rejoiced  together,  with  the  mixture  of  sorrow  over 
Calvin's  sad  prospects.  They  received  no  note  from  me, 
only  threats  in  those  papers. 

After  the  mock  trial  and  his  sentence  was  pro 
nounced,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Mandana  Tileston  (his 
affianced),  that  he  would  release  her  from  their  engage 
ment.  But  she  replied, 

"If  you  out-live  your  term,  if  I  marry  any  man,  it 
will  be  Calvin  Fairbank."  And  the  noble  woman 
watched  and  waited  all  those  years,  to  nurse  him  back 
to  life,  after  receiving  over  one  hundred  terrible  whip- 
!  pings,  that  counted,  all  told,  thirty-five  thousand  one 
hundred  and  five  lashes  on  his  bare  flesh.  I  have  heard 
i  him  say,  it  seemed  to  him  that  every  ten  strokes  were 
equal  to  a  death.  He  has  often  said,  had  he  not 
inherited  an  iron  constitution  he  must  have  sunk  under 
those  years  of  cruel  treatment.  But  to  show  how  little 
of  bitterness  he  retained,  as  he  was  passing  along  the 
street  in  Cincinnati,  he  saw  Zeb  "Ward  and  his  wife 


APPENDIX.  207 

thrown  from  their  carriage  into  a  ditch.  He  ran  to 
their  relief,  and  told  Ward  he  would  assist  his  wife  to  a 
surgeon's  office  across  the  street,  as  she  was  badly  hurt. 
After  placing  her  in  the  hands  of  the  surgeon,  Fairbank 
returned  to  see  what  he  could  do  for  Ward.  As  Ward 
looked  at  him,  in  surprise,  he  said  "Fairbank,  is 
that  you?" 

"Yes." 

"Why!  I  should  have  thought  you  would  have 
killed  me,  instead  of  helping  me."  And  took  from  his 
purse  a  roll  of  bills, — "There  is  one  hundred  dollars — 
take  that." 

"Oh,  no,  I  don't  ask  anything  for  helping  any  one 
in  trouble." 

"I  tell  you  to  take  it." 

"I  made  one  hundred  dollars  last  evening  by  talk 
ing  about  you,  and  I  have  another  meeting  this  evening, 
and  I  shall  talk  about  you  again." 

"I  don't  care  for  that.     I  tell  you  to  take  this." 

"And  I  did  take  it,  with  thanks." 

/ 

I  hope  and  trust  this  little  sketch  of  Eev.  Calvin 

Fairbank' s  thrilling  life  will  find  an  abundant  sale  to 
aid  him  now  in  his  broken-down,  destitute,  infirm 

old  age  of  seventy-four  years. 

^ 

LAURA   S.  HAVILAND. 


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